Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35217534›Full record

Observational studyBMJ open2022

Contribution of the elevated thrombosis risk of males to the excess male mortality observed in COVID-19: an observational study.

Kenneth Roy Cohen, David Anderson, Sheng Ren, David J Cook

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 38% 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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
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

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Kenneth Roy CohenOptumLabs, United Health Group, Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA ken.cohen@optum.com.ORCID 0000-0002-6141-9142
David AndersonOptumLabs, United Health Group, Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA.
Sheng RenOptumLabs, United Health Group, Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA.
David J CookOptumLabs, United Health Group, Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA.
Optum (United States) · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe mortality rate of COVID-19 is elevated in males compared with females.

objectiveDetermine the extent that the elevated thrombotic risk in males relative to females contributes to excess COVID-19 mortality in males.

designObservational study.

settingData sourced from electronic medical records from over 200 US hospital systems.

participants60 877 patients aged 18 years and older hospitalised with COVID-19. EXPOSURE: Exposure variable: biological sex; key variable of interest: thrombosis. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was COVID-19 mortality. We measured: (1) mortality rate of males relative to females, (2) rate of thrombotic diagnoses occurring during hospitalisation for COVID-19 in both sexes and (3) mortality rate when evidence of thrombosis was present.

resultsThe COVID-19 mortality rate of males was 29.9% higher than that of females. Males had a 35.8% higher rate of receiving a thrombotic diagnosis compared with females. The mortality rate of all patients with a thrombotic diagnosis was 40.0%-over twice that of patients with COVID-19 without a thrombotic diagnosis (adjusted OR 2.50 (2.37 to 2.64), p<0.001). When defining thrombosis as either a documented thrombotic diagnosis or a D-dimer level ≥3.0 µg/mL, 16.4% of the excess mortality in male patients could be explained by increased thrombotic risk.

conclusionsOur findings suggest the higher COVID-19 mortality rate in males may be significantly accounted for by the elevated risk of thrombosis among males. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie increased male thrombotic risk may allow for the advancement of effective anticoagulation strategies that reduce COVID-19 mortality in males.

Indexed as

COVID-19ThrombosisAdultAnticoagulantsFemaleHospitalizationHospital MortalityHumansMaleSARS-CoV-2Anticoagulantsadult intensive & critical careCOVID-19thromboembolism

Identifiers

PMID35217534
PMCPMC8882638
OpenAlexW4220794409

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 Socratic graph.