Does child gender determine household decision for health care in rural Thatta, Pakistan?
Differential care seeking for boys and girls is not seen in Thatta despite clear differences in mortality ratios. This calls for more creative research to identify pathways for gender differential in child mortality. Factors identified as influencing child health care and amenable to modification include poverty alleviation and girls' education.
Mortality and morbidity is less in men despite their higher preoperative creatinine level, greater incidence of reoperation, lower ejection fraction, and more common atherosclerosis of the ascending aorta.