Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38214079›Full record

ArticleEuro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin2024

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

Caroline E Gebhard, Claudia Sütsch, Pimrapat Gebert, Bianca Gysi, Susan Bengs, Atanas Todorov, Manja Deforth, Philipp K Buehler, Alexander Meisel, Reto A Schuepbach and 41 more

Open access · diamondAbstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
17.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
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  13. Integrating gender medicine into modern healthcare: Progress and barriers.European journal of clinical investigation · 2025
    Review
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  16. Observational
  17. Article
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  20. Long-COVID and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: a preliminary comparison of neuropsychological performance.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

51 authors at 9 institutions in 3 countries.

Caroline E GebhardIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Claudia SütschDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Pimrapat GebertInstitute of Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Bianca GysiIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Susan BengsDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Atanas TodorovDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Manja DeforthDepartment of Biostatistics at Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Philipp K BuehlerInstitute of Intensive Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Alexander MeiselDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Reto A SchuepbachInstitute of Intensive Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Annelies S ZinkernagelDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Silvio D BruggerDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Claudio AcevedoDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Dimitri PatrikiDepartment of Cardiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Benedikt WiggliDepartment of Internal Medicine, Cantonal Hospital of Baden, Baden, Switzerland.
Jürg H BeerCenter for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland.
Andrée FriedlDepartment of Internal Medicine, Cantonal Hospital of Baden, Baden, Switzerland.
Raphael TwerenboldDepartment of Cardiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Gabriela M KusterDepartment of Cardiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Hans ParggerIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Sarah Tschudin-SutterDivision of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Joerg C SchefoldDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine, Inselspital Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Thibaud SpinettiDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine, Inselspital Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Chiara HenzeDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Mina PasqualiniDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Dominik F SagerDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Lilian MayrhoferIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Mirjam GriederIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Janna TontschIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Fabian C FranzeckDepartment of Informatics, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Pedro D Wendel GarciaInstitute of Intensive Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Daniel A HofmaennerInstitute of Intensive Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Thomas ScheierDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Jan BartussekDepartment of Quantitative Biomedicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Achi HaiderDivision of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Muriel GrämerDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Nidaa MikailDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Alexia RossiDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Núria ZellwegerIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Petra OpićIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Angela PortmannDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Roland von KänelDepartment of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Aju P PazhenkottilDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Michael MesserliDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Ronny R BuechelDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Philipp A KaufmannDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Valerie TreyerDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Martin SiegemundIntensive Care Unit, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Ulrike HeldDepartment of Biostatistics at Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Vera Regitz-ZagrosekInstitute of Gender in Medicine (GiM), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Catherine GebhardDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
University of Zurich · CHUniversity of Basel · CHKantonsspital Baden · CHUniversity Hospital of Basel · CHUniversity of Bern · CHCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · DEHarvard University · USUniversity Hospital of Zurich · CHZimmer Biomet (Germany) · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BackgroundWomen 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.AimWe assessed the impact of sex and gender on PASC in a Swiss population.MethodOur 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).ConclusionSpecific 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.

Indexed as

COVID-19AdultDisease ProgressionFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPost-Acute COVID-19 SyndromeProspective StudiesSARS-CoV-2SwitzerlandGenderPost-COVID-19, Long-COVID, Long-HaulersSARS-CoV-2SexWomen

Identifiers

PMID38214079
PMCPMC10785203
OpenAlexW4390795381

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.