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Biological sex
Objective To estimate the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality in 2020 in 29 high-income countries with reliable and complete age and sex disaggregated mortality data. Design Time series study of high income countries. Setting Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, England and Wales, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, […]
Sex- and gender-based medicine: The need for precise terminology
As our knowledge of sex- and gender-based medicine (SGBM) continues to grow, attention to precision in the use of related terminology is critical. Unfortunately, the terms sex and gender are often used interchangeably and incorrectly, both within and outside of the typical binary construct. On behalf of the Sex and Gender Women’s Health Collaborative (SGWHC), […]
Defining and Regulating the Boundaries of Sex and Sexuality
Sex and sexuality are contentious concepts, blending the deeply personal with the profoundly political. They concern most of us in our private spaces of fantasy and meaning, relationships and families, pleasure and pain, creation and loss. But sex and sexuality are not solely private matters; with conceptual boundaries moving and being transgressed, they have increasingly […]
Sex and the census: why surveys should not conflate sex and gender identity
The UK census authorities have proposed guidance for the 2021 census indicating that the sex question may be answered according to subjective gender identity. This raises issues about the measurement of sex and gender identity which other data collection exercises are also contending with. This paper addresses the questions that have arisen regarding the census, […]
Stop ‘controlling’ for sex and gender in global health research
If you read any global health publication—whether it be about injury prevention, non-communicable diseases or vaccines—you are likely to find a footnote in a table or a sentence in the statistical methods section indicating that the results were ‘controlled’ for sex or gender. Although the terms sex and gender are often used interchangeably in the […]
Sex, gender, and medical data
Sex and gender are not synonymous. Sex, unless otherwise specified, relates to biology: the gametes, chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive organs. Gender relates to societal roles, behaviours, and expectations that vary with time and place, historically and geographically. These categories describe different attributes that must be considered depending on the purpose they are intended for. The […]
Inadequate reporting of COVID-19 clinical studies: a renewed rationale for the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the implications of sex and gender differences to human health and well-being. Evidence to date indicates that men are at higher risk of severe disease and death than women, while women seem more likely to suffer from long-term COVID-19, and experience negative social and economic impacts. Biological […]
The intersection of Black women, COVID, and death rates
Black Americans have died of COVID-19 at much higher rates than white Americans. It is well understood that the driver of these racial disparities is racism and social inequality, not genetics. In contrast, many researchers have assumed that sex disparities in COVID-19 mortality are largely due to differences in biology. Our research challenges this narrative […]
Sex disparities in COVID-19 mortality vary across US racial groups
Background Inequities in COVID-19 outcomes in the USA have been clearly documented for sex and race: men are dying at higher rates than women, and Black individuals are dying at higher rates than white individuals. Unexplored, however, is how sex and race interact in COVID-19 outcomes. Objective Use available data to characterize COVID-19 mortality rates […]
Sixty-day consequences of COVID-19 in patients discharged from hospital: an electronic health records study
Data on patients discharged following COVID-19 hospitalization is scarce. We conducted an electronic health records study of community-acquired COVID-19 patients discharged between 15 March and 14 July 2020 from hospitals in Oxfordshire, UK. Of 403 discharged patients, 114 (28%) were readmitted or died within 60 days (incidence rate 18/100 person-months). Rates of readmission or death were […]