COVID-19 increased existing gender mortality gaps in high-income more than middle-income countries

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107167

Publication:
COVID-19 increased existing gender mortality gaps in high-income more than middle-income countries

creativework.datePublished	Received 12 April 2024, Revised 27 June 2024, Accepted 3 July 2024, Available online 2 September 2024, Version of Record 30 September 2024.
dc.contributor.author	Beegle, Kathleen
dc.contributor.author	Demombynes, Gabriel
dc.contributor.author	de Walque, Damien
dc.contributor.author	Gubbins, Paul
dc.contributor.author	Veillard, Jeremy
dc.date.accessioned	2024-11-14T21:50:09Z
dc.date.available	2024-11-14T21:50:09Z
dc.date.issued	2024-11-14
dc.description.abstract	Objective: To analyze how patterns of excess mortality varied by sex and age groups across countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with country income level. Methods: We used World Health Organization excess mortality estimates by sex and age groups for 75 countries in 2020 and 62 countries in 2021, restricting the sample to estimates based on recorded all-cause mortality data. We examined patterns across countries using country-specific Poisson regressions with observations consisting of the number of excess deaths by groups defined by sex and age. Findings: Men die at higher rates in nearly all places and at all ages beyond age 45. In 2020, the pandemic amplified this gender mortality gap for the world, but with variation across countries and by country income level. In high-income countries, rates of excess mortality were much higher for men than women. In contrast, in middle-income countries, the sex ratio of excess mortality was similar to the sex ratio of expected all-cause mortality. The exacerbation of the sex ratio of excess mortality observed in 2020 in high-income countries, however, declined in 2021. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has killed men at much higher rates than women, as has been well documented, but these gender differences have varied by country income. These differences were the result of some combination of variation in gender patterns of infection rates and infection fatality rates across countries. The gender gap in mortality declined in high-income countries in 2021, likely as a result of the faster rollout of vaccination against COVID-19.	en
dc.identifier.citation	International Journal of Infectious Diseases; ; Volume 148, November 2024, 107167
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/42418
dc.identifier.issn	1201-9712
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42418
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	Elsevier
dc.relation.ispartofseries	International Journal of Infectious Diseases; Volume 148, November 2024, 107167
dc.rights	CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/
dc.subject	CORONAVIRUS
dc.subject	PANDEMIC
dc.subject	DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
dc.subject	MORTALITY
dc.subject	GENDER
dc.title	COVID-19 increased existing gender mortality gaps in high-income more than middle-income countries	en
dc.type	Journal Article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.associatedcontent	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971224002388 Journal website (version of record)
okr.crossref.title	COVID-19 increased existing gender mortality gaps in high-income more than middle-income countries
okr.date.disclosure	2024-11-14
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.doctype	Publications & Research::Journal Article
okr.externalcontent	External Content
okr.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107167
okr.identifier.doi	https://doi.org/10.1596/42418
okr.peerreview	Academic Peer Review
okr.region.geographical	World
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Disease Control & Prevention
okr.topic	Gender::Gender and Health
okr.volume	148