Impact of sex and gender on post-COVID-19 syndrome, Switzerland, 2020.

Gebhard, Caroline E; Sütsch, Claudia; Gebert, Pimrapat; Gysi, Bianca; Bengs, Susan; Todorov, Atanas; Deforth, Manja; Buehler, Philipp K; Meisel, Alexander; Schuepbach, Reto A; Zinkernagel, Annelies S; Brugger, Silvio D; Acevedo, Claudio; Patriki, Dimitri; Wiggli, Benedikt; Beer, Jürg H; Friedl, Andrée; Twerenbold, Raphael; Kuster, Gabriela M; Pargger, Hans; ... (2024). Impact of sex and gender on post-COVID-19 syndrome, Switzerland, 2020. Eurosurveillance, 29(2) European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.2.2300200

Preview

Text eurosurv-29-2-6.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (498kB) | Preview

Background Women are overrepresented among individuals with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Biological (sex) as well as sociocultural (gender) differences between women and men might account for this imbalance, yet their impact on PASC is unknown. Aim We assessed the impact of sex and gender on PASC in a Swiss population. Method Our multicentre prospective cohort study included 2,856 (46% women, mean age 44.2 ± 16.8 years) outpatients and hospitalised patients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.ResultsAmong those who remained outpatients during their first infection, women reported persisting symptoms more often than men (40.5% vs 25.5% of men; p < 0.001). This sex difference was absent in hospitalised patients. In a crude analysis, both female biological sex (RR = 1.59; 95% CI: 1.41-1.79; p < 0.001) and a score summarising gendered sociocultural variables (RR = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.03-1.07; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with PASC. Following multivariable adjustment, biological female sex (RR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.74-1.25; p = 0.763) was outperformed by feminine gender-related factors such as a higher stress level (RR = 1.04; 95% CI: 1.01-1.06; p = 0.003), lower education (RR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.03-1.30; p = 0.011), being female and living alone (RR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.29-2.83; p = 0.001) or being male and earning the highest income in the household (RR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.60-0.97; p = 0.030). Conclusion Specific sociocultural parameters that differ in prevalence between women and men, or imply a unique risk for women, are predictors of PASC and may explain, at least in part, the higher incidence of PASC in women. Once patients are hospitalised during acute infection, sex differences in PASC are no longer evident.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

9 since deposited on 15 Jan 2024
9 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item