To determine whether there has been any recent change in the mortality experience of American anesthesiologists.
Retrospective analysis of obituary reports to the Physician Master File (PMF) of the American Medical Association.
Data were collected from the PMF of anesthesiologists and obstetricians. All data were identified from the PMF. A total of 1525 obituaries of anesthesiologists and 2773 obituaries of obstetricians during the study period, 1992 to 2001, were reviewed. Mean age of living or mean age at death of anesthesiologists and obstetricians, as well as age-adjusted death rates was calculated.
A gradual increase in age at death was noted from 1992 (65.30 +/- 15.61 years) to 2001 (78.13 +/- 12.89 years) for anesthesiologists (P < 0.005). There was a significant linear decrease from 4.3 deaths per thousand to 2.3 deaths per thousand for anesthesiologists in this same period.
We observed a significant increase in the average age at death and a decreased risk of death among anesthesiologists who died in the years 1992 to 2001. Parallel changes were observed in the control population of obstetricians.