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. 2020 Dec:266:113364.
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113364. Epub 2020 Sep 13.

Health risks and outcomes that disproportionately affect women during the Covid-19 pandemic: A review

Jade Connor  1 , Sarina Madhavan  2 , Mugdha Mokashi  2 , Hanna Amanuel  2 , Natasha R Johnson  3 , Lydia E Pace  4 , Deborah Bartz  5
Affiliations

Health risks and outcomes that disproportionately affect women during the Covid-19 pandemic: A review

Jade Connor et al. Soc Sci Med. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic is straining healthcare systems in the US and globally, which has wide-reaching implications for health. Women experience unique health risks and outcomes influenced by their gender, and this narrative review aims to outline how these differences are exacerbated in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Observations: It has been well described that men suffer from greater morbidity and mortality once infected with SARS-CoV-2. This review analyzed the health, economic, and social systems that result in gender-based differences in the areas healthcare workforce, reproductive health, drug development, gender-based violence, and mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. The increased risk of certain negative health outcomes and reduced healthcare access experienced by many women are typically exacerbated during pandemics. We assess data from previous disease outbreaks coupled with literature from the Covid-19 pandemic to examine the impact of gender on women's SARS-CoV-2 exposure and disease risks and overall health status during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Conclusions: Gender differences in health risks and implications are likely to be expanded during the Covid-19 pandemic. Efforts to foster equity in health, social, and economic systems during and in the aftermath of Covid-19 may mitigate the inequitable risks posed by pandemics and other times of healthcare stress.

Keywords: Covid-19; Gender health disparities; Pandemic; Women's health.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percent of women employees by healthcare occupation. Data from the 2018 American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau (US Census Bureau, 2020).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Percent of respondents who report stress for various health, economic, and social outcomes related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Total number of respondents, n, equals 1216, with 620 women and 596 men. Asterisks indicate statistical significance, p < .05. Adapted from Kaiser Family Foundation Coronavirus Poll from March 2020 (Frederiksen et al., 2020).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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