Health, performance and conduct concerns among older doctors: A retrospective cohort study of notifications received by medical regulators in Australia

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether ‘older doctors’ (aged over 65) are at higher risk of notifications to the medical regulator than ‘younger doctors’ (aged 36–60 years) regarding their health, performance and/or conduct. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: National dataset of 12,878 notifications lodged with medical regulators in Australia between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2014. Participants: All registered doctors in Australia aged 36–60 and >65 years during the study period. Main outcome measures: Incidence rates of notifications and incidence rate ratios of notifications (older versus younger doctors). Results: Older doctors had higher notification rates (90.9 compared with 66..