As revealed by a new peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Women’s Health, in which more than 10,600 adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have been analyzed, women had a significantly lower probability than men of hospital mortality . They also had fewer admissions to the intensive care unit and less need for mechanical ventilation.
Women were also less likely to have major adverse events, including acute heart injury, acute kidney injury, and venous thromboembolism.
The largest study to date
This is the largest study to date directly evaluating the impact of sex on COVID-19 outcomes. The authors propose some of the protective factors that may contribute to these findings that significantly favor women. An advantage may be the additional X chromosome, which carries multiple genes responsible for innate and adaptive immunity .
The study authors also emphasize that "although women have a lower risk of mortality from COVID-19, we must be careful not to send a message to provide poor care to women with COVID-19 or to decrease measures to prevent their infection, as well as reducing the care given to women admitted for COVID-19 ".
This was a retrospective observational cohort study of a large New York health system. Eligible patients included adults 18 years of age or older who tested positive for polymerase chain reaction of a nasopharyngeal sample for COVID-19 and were hospitalized in 1 of 13 acute care hospitals from March 1, 2020 through on April 27, 2020. The follow-up was carried out until June 4, 2020 . The focus of this study was on adult patients who were hospitalized for acute complications due to COVID.