Change in Covid-19 infection and mortality rates in postmenopausal women

Objective: To evaluate whether the rates of COVID-19 infection and death in women versus men differ with age. Methods: From data provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, we calculated the respective proportions of women among COVID-infected versus noninfected populations and male versus female infection and death rates, stratifying the results into 10-year age groups. Results: The prevalence of COVID-19 infection was 3.6% higher in women than in the general population from 20 to 59 years of age, then decreased to -13.3% below that of the general population between 60 and 89 years of age. Death rates among infected women showed the opposite age-related trend. In infected women, the mortality rate was -77.4% lower than that of men aged 20 to 59 years. Between 60 and 89 years of age, the difference in women decreases to -34.5% below that of men. Conclusions: Our results indicate opposing age-related trends among women in infection and death rates due to COVID-19. Further studies are needed to examine the contribution of the phases of the female reproductive cycle to the observed variations.

Automated summary

The study found opposing trends in COVID-19 infection and death rates among women of different age groups. Specifically, women aged 20 to 59 had higher infection rates but lower mortality rates compared to men, while women aged 60 to 89 had lower infection rates but higher mortality rates.