Male sex identified by global COVID 19 meta analysis as a risk factor for death and ITU admission
Anecdotal evidence suggests that Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) caused by the coronavirus SARS CoV 2, exhibits differences in morbidity and mortality between sexes. Here, we present a meta analysis of 3,111,714 reported global cases to demonstrate that, whilst there is no difference in the proportion of males and females with confirmed COVID 19, male patients have almost three times the odds of requiring intensive treatment unit (ITU) admission (OR 2.84; 95% CI 2.06, 3.92) and higher odds of death (OR 1.39; 95% CI 1.31, 1.47) compared to females. With few exceptions, the sex bias observed in COVID 19 is a worldwide phenomenon. An appreciation of how sex is influencing COVID 19 outcomes will have important implications for clinical management and mitigation strategies for this disease.
Nature communications