SynthesisBMJ open2020
Sex difference in coronavirus disease (COVID-19): a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 160 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
160 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The collateral effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: A gender-specific systematic review of disordered eating behaviour in the general population.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of disease severity, age, sex, comorbidity, and vaccination on secondary attack rates of SARS-CoV-2: a global systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Individual risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection during Alpha variant in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Diagnostic performance of CO-RADS for COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European radiology · 2022Pooled it
- Excess all-cause deaths stratified by sex and age in Peru: a time series analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- Transmissibility and pathogenicity of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: A systematic review and meta-analysis of secondary attack rate and asymptomatic infection.Journal of infection and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Why do men have worse COVID-19-related outcomes? A systematic review and meta-analysis with sex adjusted for age.Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica · 2022Pooled it
- The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among health care workers before the era of vaccination: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Italy Using Real-World Data: Methodology and Cohort Description of the Second Phase of Web-Based EPICOVID19 Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Article
- Essential worker status, gender, and migration background disparities in COVID-19: An intersectional approach.Journal of migration and health · 2026Article
- Roles of sex and SP-A genetic variants in modulating multiorgan injuries post viral infection.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Machine learning identifies clinical and sociodemographic factors contributing to post-COVID hospitalization and cardiovascular risk in patients with peripheral artery disease.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Factors affecting COVID-19 outcomes in Ireland: findings from a national database of 1,408,249 cases diagnosed between 2020 and 2022.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Addressing Sex as a Biological Variable in Preclinical Models of Lung Disease: An Official American Thoracic Society Research Statement.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2025Article
- Occupational differences in COVID-19 hospital admission and mortality risks between women and men in Scotland: a population-based study using linked administrative data.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2025Article
- Weathering the Storm: How Age and Biologics Influence the COVID-19 Cytokine Surge.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Relationship Between Acute SARS-CoV-2 Viral Clearance and Long COVID-19 (Long COVID) Symptoms: A Cohort Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
- Barcoded SARS-CoV-2 viruses define the impact of duration and route of exposure on the transmission bottleneck in a hamster model.Science advances · 2025Article
100 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the sex difference in the prevalence of COVID-19 confirmed cases.
designSystematic review and meta-analysis.
settingPubMed, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched for related information. The authors developed a data extraction form on an Excel sheet and the following data from eligible studies were extracted: author, country, sample size, number of female patients and number of male patients. Using STATA V.14 for analysis, the authors pooled the overall prevalence of men and/or women using a random-effect meta-analysis model. The authors examined the heterogeneity in effect size using Q statistics and I
participantsStudies on COVID-19 confirmed cases were included.
interventionSex (male/female) of COVID-19 confirmed cases was considered. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was prevalence of COVID-19 among men and women.
resultsA total of 57 studies with 221 195 participants were used in the analysis. The pooled prevalence of COVID-19 among men was found to be 55.00 (51.43-56.58, I
conclusionsThe prevalence of symptomatic COVID-19 was found to be higher in men than in women. The high prevalence of smoking and alcohol consumption contributed to the high prevalence of COVID-19 among men. Additional studies on the discrepancies in severity and mortality rate due to COVID-19 among men and women and the associated factors are recommended.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.