Male vs Female Deaths
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:08 pm
So this new study is getting some media coverage...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1112-0
...with some journalists suggesting that it shows that men and women face equal mortality risk from COVID. E.g.
Men and women equally at risk from coronavirus, study finds
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/men- ... -28rnppfjj
The Times article claims "There is almost no difference in the death rates from coronavirus of men and women according to a new study, "
So clearly the journalist didn't read the part of the article where the authors wrote "A limitation of our study is that we did not have data on underlying cause of death."
Putting aside, for a moment, the fact the study did not focus on confirmed COVID-19 deaths - the findings are entirely compatible with all the previous work showing that the COVID-19 Case Fatality Rate is substantially higher (about 50%) for males than females at all ages.
Age-specific mortality rates are higher for males throughout life anyway. So even if the COVID-19 CFR is higher for males - COVID-19 can produce a smaller relative increase in the risk of dying during the next 12 months for males, than for females.
And then of course, the higher male age-specific mortality rates mean there are far fewer males around in the high risk older groups (e.g. > 80 years). So you can end up with more COVID-19 deaths overall in women - even though it's far more risky for an individual male to catch.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1112-0
...with some journalists suggesting that it shows that men and women face equal mortality risk from COVID. E.g.
Men and women equally at risk from coronavirus, study finds
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/men- ... -28rnppfjj
The Times article claims "There is almost no difference in the death rates from coronavirus of men and women according to a new study, "
So clearly the journalist didn't read the part of the article where the authors wrote "A limitation of our study is that we did not have data on underlying cause of death."
Putting aside, for a moment, the fact the study did not focus on confirmed COVID-19 deaths - the findings are entirely compatible with all the previous work showing that the COVID-19 Case Fatality Rate is substantially higher (about 50%) for males than females at all ages.
Age-specific mortality rates are higher for males throughout life anyway. So even if the COVID-19 CFR is higher for males - COVID-19 can produce a smaller relative increase in the risk of dying during the next 12 months for males, than for females.
And then of course, the higher male age-specific mortality rates mean there are far fewer males around in the high risk older groups (e.g. > 80 years). So you can end up with more COVID-19 deaths overall in women - even though it's far more risky for an individual male to catch.