Do Cardiological Characteristics Explain the Mortality Rate Disparity Between Genders in COVID-19?

Abstract

Objectives: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) mortality risk in males is twice as high compared to females. The literature lacks data regarding how the cardiological parameters influence the mortality rate imbalance between genders in the setting of COVID-19. This study aims to investigate how cardiological parameters vary between genders in COVID-19 disease—a potential explanation for the increased mortality rate in males in the setting of COVID-19. Materials and Methods: We included 458 adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 disease. Demographics, comorbidities, laboratory findings, and electrocardiogram parameters were compared between males and females. Results: Of 458, a total of 63 (14.2%) patients died, and 82 (17.9%) were followed up in the intensive care unit during the hospitalization. Although the median age between males and females looked like to be similar, the mortality rate was significantly higher among males (44% vs 9.5%, p=0.006). High-sensitive troponin T, presentative of myocardial injury, was considerably higher in dead patients than survivors (p<0.05); however, it did not present a significant difference between genders. Electrocardiogram features did not show substantial differences, as well. Conclusion: This study could provide important insights into the currently mostly enigmatic issue, gender-based death disparity in COVID-19, that cardiological characteristics do not impact the death imbalance.