Elsevier

Maturitas

Volume 170, April 2023, Pages 39-41
Maturitas

Short communication
Effect of menopausal hormone therapy on COVID-19 severe outcomes in women – A population-based study of the US National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) data

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2022.10.005Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Menopausal hormone therapy may lessen the severity of COVID-19.

  • The use of menopausal hormone therapy was associated with a marginally lower risk of COVID-19 mortality in inpatients.

  • The use of menopausal hormone therapy was also associated with a significantly reduced risk of prolonged hospital stay.

Abstract

Whether menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) lessens the severity of COVID-19 among women is unclear. Leveraging a U.S. national COVID-19 cohort and a cross-sectional analysis, we found MHT use was marginally associated with a lower risk of mortality (odds ratio [OR] 0.73, 95 % CI 0.53–1.01) and significantly associated with a lower risk of prolonged hospital stay (0.7, 0.49–0.99) among inpatient women. When stratifying by MHT type, estrogen-only and estrogen-plus-progestin therapies had a more prominent protective effect than progestin-only therapy, although this difference did not achieve statistical significance. Women with COVID-19 can continue to use MHT. Clinical trials are needed to evaluate MHT's therapeutic effect on COVID-19, especially in terms of severity.

Keywords

Menopausal hormone therapy
COVID-19
Mortality
Hospitalization

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