Age and Gender Perspective of COVID-19 Mortality in San Diego County
Sarah Dong
Westview High School
To examine COVID-19 mortality from age and gender perspectives, COVID-19 cases and deaths data from 3/20 to 9/21 in San Diego were utilized. CFR was calculated for men vs. women. Mortality rates stratified by age and gender were also calculated. As of 9/12/21, there were 3,981 COVID-19 deaths in San Diego. COVID-19 is substantially more dangerous not only for the elderly but also for middle and upper middle-aged adults (43% aged 45-74 and 54.5% aged 75+). Men (59.8%) had more deaths due to COVID-19 than women (40.2%). The COVID-19 mortality risk was significantly higher for men than that of women with a CFR of 1.42% in males vs. 0.91% in females, and a mortality rate of 141.7 in men vs. 96.5 in women. COVID-19 mortality rates in men were consistently higher than that of women across all age groups. The greatest gender difference was in age group 30-49. This study in San Diego showed a similar pattern of COVID-19 mortality by age and gender with what the global data suggested. Identifying vulnerable populations allows healthcare to ensure better targeting of prevention and intervention efforts, improving chances of survival for these high-risk groups.