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. 2020 Dec 24;10(1):38.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10010038.

Effect of Sex on Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Coronavirus Disease: A Population-Based Study

Kyu Hyang Cho  1 , Sang Won Kim  2 , Jong Won Park  1 , Jun Young Do  1 , Seok Hui Kang  1
Affiliations

Effect of Sex on Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Coronavirus Disease: A Population-Based Study

Kyu Hyang Cho et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the association between sex and clinical outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) using a population-based dataset.

Methods: In this retrospective study, insurance claims data from the Korea database were used. Patients who tested positive for COVID-19 were included in the study. All diseases were defined according to the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision. During follow-up, the clinical outcomes, except mortality, were assessed using the electrical codes from the dataset. The clinical outcomes noted were: hospitalization, the use of inotropics, high flow nasal cannula, conventional oxygen therapy, mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, development of acute kidney injury, cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, pulmonary embolism, and disseminated intravascular coagulation after the diagnosis of COVID-19.

Results: A total of 7327 patients were included; of these, 2964 patients (40.5%) were men and 4363 patients (59.5%) were women. There were no significant differences in the Charlson comorbidity index score between men and women in the same age group. The incidence of mortality and clinical outcomes was higher among men than among women. The mortality rate was the highest for the populations aged 50-64 or ≥65 years. The subgroup analyses for age, diabetes mellitus, or hypertension showed favorable results for patient survival or clinical outcomes for women compared to men.

Conclusion: Our population-based study showed that female patients with COVID-19 were associated with favorable outcomes. Furthermore, the impact of sex was more evident in patients aged 50-64 or ≥65 years.

Keywords: clinical outcome; coronavirus disease; mortality; sex.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan–Meier survival curves, according to sex. The blue line shows the survival graph for men, and the red line shows the graph for women. The circle reveals the censored point. The 20-day survival rates for men and women were 96.6% and 97.9%, respectively (p < 0.001). The 40-day survival rates for men and women were 92.8% and 95.5%, respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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