Female Sex Is a Risk Factor Associated with Long-Term Post-COVID Related Symptoms but Not with COVID-19 Symptoms: The LONG-COVID-EXP-CM Multicenter Study
January 2022
in “
Journal of Clinical Medicine
”
TLDR Women are more likely to have long-term post-COVID symptoms than men.
This multicenter cohort study involving 1,969 individuals found that while there were no significant sex differences in initial COVID-19 symptoms, females were more likely to experience long-term post-COVID symptoms, including fatigue, dyspnea, pain, hair loss, ocular problems, depressive levels, and poor sleep quality. Specifically, females had a higher likelihood of reporting ≥3 post-COVID symptoms (adjusted OR 2.54) and hair loss (adjusted OR 4.529). The study underscores the need for healthcare systems to consider sex differences in managing long-term post-COVID conditions.