Surgeons are 56% more likely to die compared to physicians in other specialities, according to a study published July 30 in JAMA Surgery.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital, all based in Boston, analyzed 2023 death data from the National Vital Statistics System. The study examined more than 1 million adult deaths and compared mortality rates by occupation.
The age- and sex-adjusted mortality rate among surgeons was 355.3 per 100,000 population, compared to 288.4 per 100,000 for nonsurgeon physicians. The study found that surgeons’ overall mortality rate was similar to that of lawyers, engineers and scientists, but significantly lower than the general workforce.
Surgeons’ elevated mortality risk may be due to extended work hours, exposure to workplace violence and high-intensity work, researchers said. Notably, motor vehicle crashes were the fourth leading cause of death among surgeons, compared to ninth among other professionals. Hypertension and assault also ranked higher as causes of death among surgeons than in other occupational groups.
“Our results indicate that several causes of death disproportionately affect surgeons, aligning with evidence that hazardous driving events associated with extended work hours are especially pronounced among surgeons,” the study authors said. “Research is needed to understand other observed mortality patterns among surgeons, such as elevated cancer-specific mortality and assault.”
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