Recent research highlights that surgeons in the US face a higher risk of death from various causes, especially cancer.
Notably, surgeons have a cancer mortality rate of 193.2 per 100,000, which is more than double that of 87.5 in non-surgeon doctors, and higher than all other workers combined, suggesting surgeons are more likely to die from cancer than any other group.
Although overall death rates remain lower than those for non-physicians, the unexpectedly high cancer rates may highlight the risks associated with the demanding nature of surgical practice.
The new study also found higher mortality rates for surgeons than for other doctors, including deaths due to motor vehicle accidents and assaults.
While other physicians generally have a mortality advantage over other highly educated professionals, this does not apply to surgeons.
The research addresses the knowledge gap regarding how surgeons fare in terms of longevity and the leading causes of death.
Despite similarities in education and income levels, surgeons have a higher mortality rate than non-surgeon physicians, according to the analysis of death certificate data.
The age- and sex-adjusted mortality rate per 100,000 population was 355.3 for surgeons compared to 228.4 for non-surgeon physicians, resulting in a mortality rate ratio (MRR) of 1.56 (95% CI 1.36-1.78), reported Anupam Jena, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues.
However, the mortality rate for another highly educated comparison group, including lawyers, engineers, and scientists, was similar to that of surgeons (404.5 per 100,000 population; MRR 0.88, 95% CI 0.77-1.00), while the rate for all other workers was higher (632.5 per 100,000 population; MRR 0.56, 95% CI 0.49-0.64), as noted in JAMA Surgery.
Jena and the team wrote: ‘Given the demands of surgical practice – including long work hours, high-pressure environments, workplace violence, and occupational exposures (e.g., radiation) – surgeons might be particularly vulnerable to health risks.’
Certain causes of death were more common among surgeons.
For example, motor vehicle collisions were the fourth leading cause of death for this group, but the ninth leading cause for the three other occupation groups.
Long hours, physical demands, night shifts and a culture that can discourage asking for help can all take a toll on health, the author suggests.
They noted that surgeons had higher death rates than non-surgeon physicians, especially from cancer. They also found that deaths from motor vehicle crashes and assaults were relatively more common among surgeons as well.
Death certificate records provided age, sex, underlying cause of death, and usual occupation. Population denominators were derived from the 2023 American Community Survey and verified against the AMA Physician Masterfile.
Comparison groups included non-surgeon physicians, other professionals (such as lawyers, engineers, and scientists), and all other workers.
Researchers calculated mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised by age and sex to the 2000 U.S. standard population, and determined mortality rate ratios (MRRs).
Surgeons had a death rate of 355.3 per 100,000 people, higher than non-surgeon doctors at 228.4, but still lower than all other workers, who have a rate of 632.5.
Their death rate is similar to that of lawyers, engineers and scientists.
Non-surgeon doctors were the least likely to die in a car accident, with a rate of 3.4 per 100,000. Surgeons had a higher rate of 13.4, but this was only the fourth most common cause of death for them.
Among all workers, car accidents ranked ninth.
It’s essential to note that surgeons don't have a higher incidence of car accidents than other workers. Their higher rate is due to fewer deaths from other causes that are common elsewhere.
For example, respiratory diseases caused 27 per 100,000 deaths among all workers, but only 0.6 among surgeons, making surgeons the least at risk for these.
Other doctors had a higher death rate from respiratory diseases than surgeons.
Surgeons also had the lowest death rates from influenza, kidney disease, liver disease, septicaemia and diabetes. For diabetes, surgeons had a rate of 1.6 per 100,000, which is much lower than the 23.8 rate in all workers.
