The risk of SARS-CoV-2 severity and mortality is elevated in men, as elucidated from a systematic search and meta-analysis of observational cohorts reporting SARS-CoV-2 outcomes. J Fabião et al. aimed to understand the mechanism behind worse coronavirus disease outcomes in men and if the differences between gender regarding death as well as disease severity are affected by sex hormones.

In the meta-regression and subgroup assessment, age was utilized as a covariate. Databases like Cochrane Library and PubMed (Medline) were searched. The major endpoint was coronavirus-linked mortality and the secondary endpoint was the severity of coronavirus disease. Regarding mortality, men had a relative risk of 1.36 in comparison with women. In the meta-analysis heterogeneity or subgroup assessment, age was not a profound covariate.

Regarding disease severity, being male was related to a relative risk of 1.29 in comparison with the relative risk of women. Age did not influence outcomes of meta-regression or subgroup assessment. Males exhibited a raised risk of SARS-CoV-2 mortality and severity regardless of age, reducing the odds of hormonal influences in the study outcomes.