Sex differences in mortality in the intensive care unit patients with severe COVID-19

Abstract

The available evidence suggests that mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in males is higher than in females.1Pradhan A Olsson PE. Sex differences in severity and mortality from COVID-19: are males more vulnerable?.Biol Sex Differ. 2020; 11: 53Crossref Scopus (0) Google Scholar In a recent cross-sectional study, de Lusignan et al. evaluated the absolute excess risk (AER) of mortality and excess mortality rate (EMR) in the UK from a COVID-19 sentinel surveillance network in people aged 45 years and above.2de Lusignan S Joy M Oke J et al.Disparities in the excess risk of mortality in the first wave of COVID-19: Cross sectional study of the English sentinel network.J Infect. 2020 Aug 25; (Online ahead of print): 4817https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2020.08.037Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (0) Google Scholar The AER in mortality was calculated by comparing mortality for weeks 2 to 20 this year with mortality data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) from 2018 for the same weeks. The absolute excess mortality was approximately 2 deaths per 100 person years in the first wave of COVID-19, whereas the EMR for male gender, compared with female, was 1.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.35–1.44, p<0.00).