SynthesisBMJ open2021
Demographic risk factors for COVID-19 infection, severity, ICU admission and death: a meta-analysis of 59 studies.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 332 papers, 8 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
332 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 611 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19 outcomes: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.BMC rheumatology · 2024Pooled it
- New variants of COVID-19 (XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16, the "Arcturus"): A review of highly questioned concerns, a brief comparison between different peaks in the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focused systematic review on expert recommendations for prevention, vaccination, and treatment measures in the general population and at-risk groups.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2024Pooled it
- Immunocompromised individuals are at increased risk of COVID-19 breakthrough infection, hospitalization, and death in the post-vaccination era: A systematic review.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2024Pooled 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
- Association Between Diabetes and Mortality Among Adult Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19: A Cohort Study of Hospitalized Adults in Ontario, Canada, and Copenhagen, Denmark.Canadian journal of diabetes · 2023Pooled it
- Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic literature review.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Prognostic factors for mortality, intensive care unit and hospital admission due to SARS-CoV-2: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies in Europe.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2022Pooled it
- Concomitant Guillain-Barré Syndrome and COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis of Cases.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy of the tetravalent protein COVID-19 vaccine, SCTV01E: a phase 3 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.Nature communications · 2024Trial
- The characteristics of chemosensory losses in the symptomatology of long-COVID.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Article
- Association of Plasma Biomarkers of Immunothrombosis With Death in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Optimizing COVID-19 vaccination for older adults: superior efficacy of heterologous regimens in reducing infection and mortality rates among patients aged 80 years and older during the Omicron BA.5/BF.7 outbreak.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Predictors of Mortality in COVID-19 Patients Presenting With Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Utilizing theInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- The burden of COVID-19-related intensive care admissions in the Nordic countries, 2020-2023.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Estimating the effect of self-protection on transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Germany in 2021: a modelling study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Viral co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalized Peruvian patients during 2020-2021.Revista peruana de medicina experimental y salud publica · 2026Article
- Omicron infection alters the profile of organ failure in severe COVID-19: a multicenter study comparing Omicron and the wild-type strain.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Observational
- Epigenetic Modulation of IL-7 and IL-10: Toward Personalized Immune Therapies in Viral Epidemics.Journal of immunology research · 2026Article
- Essential worker status, gender, and migration background disparities in COVID-19: An intersectional approach.Journal of migration and health · 2026Article
272 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
11 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveWe aimed to describe the associations of age and sex with the risk of COVID-19 in different severity stages ranging from infection to death.
designSystematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: PubMed and Embase through 4 May 2020. STUDY SELECTION: We considered cohort and case-control studies that evaluated differences in age and sex on the risk of COVID-19 infection, disease severity, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: We screened and included studies using standardised electronic data extraction forms and we pooled data from published studies and data acquired by contacting authors using random effects meta-analysis. We assessed the risk of bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
resultsWe screened 11.550 titles and included 59 studies comprising 36.470 patients in the analyses. The methodological quality of the included papers was high (8.2 out of 9). Men had a higher risk for infection with COVID-19 than women (relative risk (RR) 1.08, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.12). When infected, they also had a higher risk for severe COVID-19 disease (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.27), a higher need for intensive care (RR 1.38, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.74) and a higher risk of death (RR 1.50, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.91). The analyses also showed that patients aged 70 years and above have a higher infection risk (RR 1.65, 95% CI 1.50 to 1.81), a higher risk for severe COVID-19 disease (RR 2.05, 95% CI 1.27 to 3.32), a higher need for intensive care (RR 2.70, 95% CI 1.59 to 4.60) and a higher risk of death once infected (RR 3.61, 95% CI 2.70 to 4.84) compared with patients younger than 70 years.
conclusionsMeta-analyses on 59 studies comprising 36.470 patients showed that men and patients aged 70 and above have a higher risk for COVID-19 infection, severe disease, ICU admission and death. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020180085.
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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.