Impact of female sex on anaesthetic awareness, depth, and emergence: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Pooled result · Awareness with postoperative recallResult — go to the resultOdds ratio 1.38 95% CI 1.09–1.75Authors' conclusion
Female sex was associated with a greater incidence of awareness under general anaesthesia, and faster emergence from anaesthesia.
Study context
- Population
- Patients under anaesthesia in controlled clinical trials (randomised/non-randomised) and prospective cohort studies reporting outcomes by sex
- Participants
- 98,243 participants · 64 studies
- Comparison
- Females vs males
- Femalesn = 53,143
- Malesn = 45,100reference
- Outcome
- Awareness with postoperative recall
Methodological detailsrandom effects meta-analysis, controlled clinical trials and prospective cohort studies
- Random effects meta-analysis
- Controlled clinical trials and prospective cohort studies
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Odds ratio
1.38
95% CI 1.09–1.75
Females vs Males
OR 1.38 (95% CI 1.09–1.75)
Further pooled results
| Outcome | OR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Connected consciousness during anaesthesiaThree studies | 2.09 (1.04–4.23) | |
| 0.20.5125Odds ratio (log scale) |
| Outcome | Mean difference (min) (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to eye-opening10 studies | −2.28 (−3.58 to −0.98) | |
| Time to response to commandSix studies | −2.84 (−4.07 to −1.62) | |
| −6−4−202Difference, min (linear scale) |
Depth of anaesthesia
- Heterogenous data; qualitative review did not identify sex differences
Original publication
Impact of female sex on anaesthetic awareness, depth, and emergence: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Anaesth. Published 14 July 2023. doi:10.
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