Men had a 60% higher risk of COVID-19-related death than women

Objectives:
Is the mortality rate related to the COVID-19 pandemic higher in European males than in European females?

Study design:
This review article included information from 23 European countries that reported separately by gender mortality rates related to COVID-19. The sample comprised 484,919 men and 605,229 women positive for COVID-19.

Results and conclusions:   
The investigators found meta-analysis by gender showed that men had a significantly 60% higher risk of COVID-19-related death than women [RR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.53 to 1.68, I2 = 92 %, p 0.001].

The investigators found the gender mortality trend was similar when countries with fewer than 5,000 cases [RR = 1.60, CI = 1.52 to 1.69, I2 = 93% with 478,500 women and 597,908 men] or fewer than 10,000 cases were excluded [RR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.62 to 1.76, I2 = 89% with 383,367 women and 495,327 men].

The investigators concluded that the mortality rate related to the COVID-19 pandemic is significantly higher in European males than in European females, but the causes or mechanisms and circumstances of this difference are not identifiable with the available evidence. Supranational health authorities should design appropriate strategies to overcome the lack of accurate information.

Original title:
Coronavirus disease 2019 and gender-related mortality in European countries: A meta-analysis by Pérez-López FR, Tajada M, […], Terán E.

Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7309755/

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