Association of hormone therapy and outcomes in COVID-19

To investigate the association between hormone therapy use and severe outcomes due to COVID-19 in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, we retrospectively searched for the records of women aged 40-65 years who had a documented case of COVID-19 between March 12 and September 29, 2020. We further identified those who were perimenopausal or postmenopausal. The rates of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths were compared by hormone therapy use. Logistic regression models were used to assess the odds of the combined outcome based on hormone therapy use.

Among the 689 patients included in this study, the median age was 56 years, and 77.5% were White. Compared with patients currently using hormone therapy, those with past/never use of hormone therapy were significantly older, had more risk factors for severe COVID-19, and had a higher incidence of diabetes. A total of 102 emergency department visits/hospitalizations/deaths occurred among both groups. Participants with current hormone therapy use had similar rates and risk of emergency department/hospitalization/death outcomes as those without hormone therapy, even after adjusting for age and severe COVID-19 risk factors.

Severe COVID-19 outcomes were not significantly different between women with current versus past/never use of hormone therapy. Our study adds to the data suggesting no harm with hormone therapy use in women with severe symptoms of COVID-19.