The sample comprised 736,537 admissions to US acute-care hospitals managed by 18,854 hospitalists. The median age of physicians was 41 years, with 10,177 physicians younger than 40 years, 8016 aged from 40 to 49 years, 3331 aged from 50 to 59 years, and 1086 aged 60 years and older.
The characteristics of the patients were comparable across physician age groups, with a mean age of approximately 80.5 years, 60% women, and approximately 83% white.
Overall 30-day mortality rate was 11.1%. After adjustment for patient and physician characteristics and hospital-specific fixed effects, the adjusted 30-day mortality rates across the four age categories were as follows: 10.8% for physicians younger than 40 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.7% - 10.9%), 11.1% for those aged 40 to 49 years (95% CI, 11.0% - 11.3%), 11.3% for those aged 50 to 59 years (95% CI, 11.1 - 11.5), and 12.1% for those aged 60 years and older (95% CI, 11.6% - 12.5%).
The outcomes were similar when the authors included patients treated by nonhospitalist general internists.
When stratified by patient volume, the association between physician age and patient mortality was positive for low volumes (90 - 200 admissions per year), with each 10-year age increase associated with an adjusted odds ratio for 30-day mortality of 1.19 (95% CI, 1.14 - 1.23; P < .001) and 1.06 (95% CI, 1.03 to 1.09; P < .001), respectively.
