ABSTRACT
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) affected females less than males, as demonstrated by sex-disaggregated data present in the literature. During the first wave, females hospitalized at San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy were few in number, presented symptoms later and had less critical clinical conditions than males. The present study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological status of the female population during the second wave, which occurred in Autumn 2020 in Italy. This prospective cohort study included all patients, with a positive real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for COVID-19, who attended the emergency department or were hospitalized in wards and/or intensive care unit (ICU) from 29th September 2020 to 29th November 2020. A total of 1216 COVID-19 patients were included, of whom 459 (37.8%) were females. The percentage of females admitted was 41.3% in the first period and 36.3% in the second period, without significant increase over time (p = 0.3). Females accounted for 25% of all COVID-19 intensive care unit admissions. There was significantly sex-based difference in the overall hospital mortality (4.1% for females and 11.3% for males, p < 0.0001). At San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy during the second wave, female patients were few and affected by a less severe form of COVID-19. An increase over time of females hospitalized patients was not reported, unlike what was previously demonstrated during the first wave. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by MRE Press.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) may present high risk features during hospitalization, including cardiovascular manifestations. However, less is known about the factors that may further increase the risk of death in these patients. METHODS: We included patients with COVID-19 and high risk features according to clinical and/or laboratory criteria at 21 sites in Brazil from June 10th to October 23rd of 2020. All variables were collected until hospital discharge or in-hospital death. RESULTS: A total of 2546 participants were included (mean age 65 years; 60.3% male). Overall, 70.8% were admitted to intensive care units and 54.2% had elevated troponin levels. In-hospital mortality was 41.7%. An interaction among sex, age and mortality was found (p = 0.007). Younger women presented higher rates of death than men (30.0% vs 22.9%), while older men presented higher rates of death than women (57.6% vs 49.2%). The strongest factors associated with in-hospital mortality were need for mechanical ventilation (odds ratio [OR] 8.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.4-12.7), elevated C-reactive protein (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.7-2.9), cancer (OR 1.8, 95 %CI 1.2-2.9), and elevated troponin levels (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.4-2.3). A risk score was developed for risk assessment of in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: This cohort showed that patients with COVID-19 and high risk features have an elevated rate of in-hospital mortality with differences according to age and sex. These results highlight unique aspects of this population and might help identifying patients who may benefit from more careful initial surveillance and potential subsequent interventional therapies.