A higher number of practicing physicians died between March 2020 and December 2021 than usual, according to a Feb. 6 report from Medscape based on a JAMA Internal Medicine report.
Of 800,000 physicians practicing in that time period, an estimated 4,511 died, according to an American Medical Association report. This was 622 more deaths than was expected based on pre-pandemic rates.
In the early days of COVID-19, practicing physicians and nurses were left with limited protective equipment at healthcare facilities nationwide. Experts believe this contributed to an increase in physician deaths, according to the report.
A Kaiser Health News and Guardian report published in April 2021 found that over 3,600 healthcare workers who had responded to the COVID-19 pandemic had died by then. Almost one-third of deaths were nurses, while one-fifth were physicians.
Roughly two-thirds of physician deaths between March 2020 and December 2021 were men, according to the JAMA report. Older physicians were more likely to die in that period, mirroring trends of general COVID-19 fatalities.
Physicians who provided direct patient care were more likely to die than active clinicians who did not provide direct patient care.
The study showed that death rates among physicians appeared to return to pre-pandemic levels after April 2021, which is also when vaccines and protective equipment were widely available, researchers noted.