title: Association of physician's sex with risk factor control in treated hypertensive patients from Swedish primary healthcare.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the association of physician's sex with blood pressure, lipid control, and cardiovascular risk factors in treated hypertensive men and women, stratified for the sex of their physician.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional survey of hypertensive patients, 264 primary care physicians (PCPs), 187 men and 77 women from across Sweden, recruited 6537 treated hypertensive patients (48% men) during 2002-2005, consecutively collected from medical records and registered on a web-based form connected to a central database. Patients were included consecutively in the same order as they visited the healthcare centre.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypertensive women more often reached target systolic/diastolic blood pressure levels (<140/90 mmHg) when treated by female PCPs than when they were treated by male PCPs (32 vs. 24%, P < 0.001). This difference remained when comparing female and male physicians' nondiabetic female patients. Both male and female patients had better control of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels when treated by female PCPs than when treated by male PCPs (total cholesterol <5 mmol/l: women 30 vs. 24%, P < 0.001; men 42 vs. 34%, P < 0.001; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol <3 mmol/l: women 39 vs. 33%, P < 0.01; men 41 vs. 35%, P < 0.05). Female PCPs had a higher proportion of treated hypertensive patients with diabetes than did male PCPs but male PCPs had a higher prevalence of treated hypertensive men with microalbuminuria compared with female PCPs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Female physicians appeared more often to reach the treatment goal for blood pressure in female patients and cholesterol levels in all patients than did male physicians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Clinical Epidemiology unit, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Stockholm, Sweden. gunilla.journath@ki.se
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Journath
authors.forename: Mai-Lis
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hellénius
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Manhem
authors.forename: Karin I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Kjellgren
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Nilsson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000188:drug therapy; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010821:Physicians, Family; D010822:Physicians, Women; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents