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. 2021 Feb 25;10(5):899.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10050899.

Gender-Based Differences by Age Range in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19: A Spanish Observational Cohort Study

Claudia Josa-Laorden  1   2 , Anxela Crestelo-Vieitez  1 , María Del Mar García Andreu  1 , Manuel Rubio-Rivas  3 , Marcos Sánchez  4 , Neera Toledo Samaniego  5 , Francisco Arnalich Fernández  6 , Rosario Iguaran Bermudez  7 , Eva Ma Fonseca Aizpuru  8 , Juan Antonio Vargas Núñez  9 , Paula Maria Pesqueira Fontan  10 , Jorge Serrano Ballesteros  11 , Santiago Jesús Freire Castro  12 , Melani Pestaña Fernández  13 , Alba Viana García  14 , Victoria Nuñez Rodriguez  15 , Vicente Giner-Galvañ  16   17 , Francisco Javier Carrasco Sánchez  18 , Almudena Hernández Milián  19 , Marta Cobos-Siles  20 , Jose Javier Napal Lecumberri  21 , Virginia Herrero García  22 , Maria de Los Reyes Pascual Pérez  23 , Jesús Millán Núñez-Cortés  5 , José Manuel Casas Rojo  24 , On Behalf Of The Semi-Covid-Network
Affiliations

Gender-Based Differences by Age Range in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19: A Spanish Observational Cohort Study

Claudia Josa-Laorden et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

There is some evidence that male gender could have a negative impact on the prognosis and severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The aim of the present study was to compare the characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) between hospitalized men and women with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. This multicenter, retrospective, observational study is based on the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry. We analyzed the differences between men and women for a wide variety of demographic, clinical, and treatment variables, and the sex distribution of the reported COVID-19 deaths, as well as intensive care unit (ICU) admission by age subgroups. This work analyzed 12,063 patients (56.8% men). The women in our study were older than the men, on average (67.9 vs. 65.7 years; p < 001). Bilateral condensation was more frequent among men than women (31.8% vs. 29.9%; p = 0.007). The men needed non-invasive and invasive mechanical ventilation more frequently (5.6% vs. 3.6%, p < 0.001, and 7.9% vs. 4.8%, p < 0.001, respectively). The most prevalent complication was acute respiratory distress syndrome, with severe cases in 19.9% of men (p < 0.001). In men, intensive care unit admission was more frequent (10% vs. 6.1%; p < 0.001) and the mortality rate was higher (23.1% vs. 18.9%; p < 0.001). Regarding mortality, the differences by gender were statistically significant in the age groups from 55 years to 89 years of age. A multivariate analysis showed that female sex was significantly and independently associated with a lower risk of mortality in our study. Male sex appears to be related to worse progress in COVID-19 patients and is an independent prognostic factor for mortality. In order to fully understand its prognostic impact, other factors associated with sex must be considered.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Spain; coronavirus; gender differences.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient inclusion flowchart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mortality between the sexes according to age range.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission by sex and age range.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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