Gender Difference in Perceived Symptoms and Laboratory Investigations in Suspected and Confirmed COVID-19 Cases: A Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Evaluating gender-specific effects of COVID-19 is important to develop effective therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to explore gender difference in perceived symptoms and laboratory investigations in suspected and confirmed cases. METHODS: This is a retrospective study that included data from suspected COVID-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic. Participants using the phone triaging system at Kasralainy outpatient clinics were included. The analyzed data included patient history and results of nasopharyngeal swab and laboratory data. RESULTS: Out of 440 COVID-19 suspected cases, 56.36% were females. The perceived COVID-19 symptoms showed no significant gender difference in suspected cases while in confirmed cases females were 4 times more likely to complain of cough [OR (95% CI) 3.92 (1.316-11.68), P-value .014] and 5 times more likely to experience loss of smell or taste [OR (95% CI) 4.84 (1.62-14.43), P-value .005]. Laboratory markers revealed high levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, blood urea, serum creatinine, creatine kinase, and serum ferritin in males and this was statistically significant (P-value <.001) in suspected and confirmed cases. Females confirmed with COVID-19 were 80%, 97%, and 97% less likely to have high levels of ALT, creatin kinase, and serum ferritin [OR (95% CI) 0.20 (0.07-0.54), 0.07 (0.01-0.38), and 0.07 (0.01-0.90), P-value .002, .002, and .041, respectively]. CONCLUSION: Gender differences were found in laboratory markers in COVID-19 suspected and confirmed cases and in perceived symptoms in confirmed cases.

Accuracy of salivary glucose assessment in diagnosis of diabetes and prediabestes.

AIMS: to assess salivary glucose correlation with blood glucose and its accuracy in diagnosis of diabetes and prediabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comparative study including 204 adults in 3 groups (104 type 2 diabetics, 50 prediabetics, 50 non-diabetic controls) aging 18-65 years. The participants were interviewed about their socio-demographic, comorbidities, & drug treatment using a predesigned questionnaire. Salivary & blood samples were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Mean salivary glucose was observed to be 23.40 ±â€¯12.755 mg/dl in control group, 42.68 ±â€¯20.830 mg/dl in prediabetic group and 59.32 ±â€¯19.147 mg/dl in diabetic group with significant difference between the 3 groups (P value < 0.001). Salivary glucose was significantly correlated to FBS with strong positive association (r = 0.67, P value < 0.001 in control group, r = 0.56, P value < 0.001in diabetic group and r = 0.36, P value 0.01 in pre-diabetic group). Salivary glucose could differentiate non-diabetics from diabetics (AUC: 0.928, P value < 0.001) with sensitivity (94.2%) and specificity (62%) & differentiate non-diabetics from prediabetics (AUC: 0.928, P value < 0.001) with sensitivity (94.2%) and specificity (62%). CONCLUSIONS: Salivary glucose estimation can serve as valid and non-invasive test for screening and diagnosis of diabetes & prediabetes.