Among 2600 patients with opioid use disorder, approximately 5% across both sexes tested positive for COVID-19. In contrast, significantly more males than females presented with an opioid overdose, according to a study in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women's Health. Click here to read the article now.
Caitlin Martin, MD, MPH, from Virginia Commonwealth University, and coauthors, demonstrated sex-related variation in COVID-19 susceptibility by race. Black females and male individuals in the Other racial group had higher odds of having a positive COVID-19 test than their White counterparts. Mortality rates were similar across the sexes.
More individuals with opioid use disorder presented with an opioid overdose than with a positive COVID-19 test, and more individuals died from an opioid overdose than from COVID-19 during the study period.
"Findings highlight the importance of incorporating an intersectionality framework into health investigations and the urgent need for effective, culturally tailored responses in the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing overdose crisis," concluded the investigators.
"In this retrospective study conducted at a large public health system in Virginia, COVID-19 test positivity rates were similar across sex among individuals with opioid use disorder, whereas males typically have higher rates of COVID-19 in the general population," says Journal of Women's Health Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers K23 DA053507, KL2 TR002648, and UL1TR002649. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
About the Journal
Journal of Women's Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. Led by Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, the Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women's healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women's Health website. Journal of Women's Health is the official journal of the Society for Women's Health Research.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research. A complete list of the firm's more than 100 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers
