Marriage and Divorce among Physicians and Healthcare Professionals: A Comparative Analysis

A career in surgery demands intensive training, long and irregular work hours that often challenge a surgeon's social well-being. We sought to investigate the impact of the surgical profession on marital status and divorce rates.

The American Community Survey database, which comprised nationally representative surveys between 2018 and 2023, was queried to investigate trends and prevalence of divorce among surgeons and nonsurgeon physicians. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors independently associated with divorce.

A total of 4,167 surgeons and 64,647 nonsurgeon physicians were identified. The median age was 49 years (interquartile range 38 to 63) and most of physicians were male (42,943, 62.4%) and White (47,434, 68.9%). The prevalence of divorce was higher among surgeons (20.9% [95%CI 19.6 to 21.1]) than nonsurgeon physicians (17.6% [95% CI 17.3 to 17.9]) and was comparable to the general population (20.8% [95% CI 20.7 to 20.8]; p < 0.001). On multivariable analysis, after adjusting for baseline characteristics, surgeons had a 16% higher risk of divorce (odds ratio [OR] 1.16 [95%CI: 1.05 to 1.28]). The risk of divorce was higher among male (OR 1.30 [95% CI 1.11 to 1.42]) and White (OR 1.28 [95% CI 1.10 to 1.40]) surgeons.

Surgeons experience a higher risk of divorce compared with their nonsurgeon physician counterparts. There is a need for support systems to improve work-life balance and well-being among surgeons.