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Abstract
Objective: In COVID-19, sex differences are increasing globally, and gender-specific mortality risk for men compared to women has been observed by researchers. This study aimed to explore clinic-pathological characteristics and the sex-related factors that might be the cause of gender disparity in COVID-19 cases.
Methods: A retrospective, observational cohort study was conducted at Ziauddin Hospital, Clifton, Karachi, from April to July 2020. Data were collected from the medical records of the admitted patients aged 18 and above, who tested positive for COVID-19 through the laboratory and had confirmed signs of pneumonia.
Results: Patients (244) were selected, including 167 (68.4%) males (mean ages 56.72±13.31) and 77 (31.6%) females (mean ages 56.36±17.15). The majority of the patients (87, 35.7%) had significant COVID-19 symptoms between 5 and 10 days. Only 4.4% of pregnant females had COVID-19 symptoms. Comorbidities included hypertension [44(18%)], diabetes mellitus [27(11.1%)], both HTN and DM60 [(24.6%)], whereas, 67(27.5%) patients had no known co-morbid. Complications were significantly more pronounced in males (p<0.001). Combined hypertension and diabetes observed a two-fold increase [36(14.8%)] in males than females [24(9.8%)]. Among these severely ill patients, 49 (20%) expired, which included 36 (14.3%) males and 13(5.2%) females, with statistically significant (p<0.05) results.
Conclusion: Our study found that men remained symptomatic for a longer duration (10-14 days) than women. Similarly, the severity of the disease, the complications, and the death rates were much higher in comorbid men than women. Females are genetically different and less exposed to environmental insults therefore we recommend that sex and gender-sensitive medicine (SGSM) may be added as a part of medical education.
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