Obesity is Associated with Increased Risk for Mortality Among Hospitalized Patients with COVID‐19
Natasha N. Pettit, Erica MacKenzie, Jessica P. Ridgway, Kenneth Pursell, Daniel Ash, Bhakti K. Patel, Mai T. Pho
Abstract
Objective Obesity has been identified as a risk factor for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus. This study sought to determine whether obesity is a risk factor for mortality among patients with COVID‐19. Methods The study was a retrospective cohort that included patients with COVID‐19 between March 1 and April 18, 2020. Results A total of 238 patients were included; 218 patients (91.6%) were African American, 113 (47.5%) were male, and the mean age was 58.5 years. Of the included patients, 146 (61.3%) had obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m 2 ), of which 63 (26.5%), 29 (12.2%), and 54 (22.7%) had class 1, 2, and 3 obesity, respectively. Obesity was identified as a predictor for mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.7 [1.1‐2.8], P = 0.016), as was male gender (OR 5.2 [1.6‐16.5], P = 0.01) and older age (OR 3.6 [2.0‐6.3], P < 0.0005). Obesity (OR 1.7 [1.3‐2.1], P < 0.0005) and older age (OR 1.3 [1.0‐1.6], P = 0.03) were also risk factors for hypoxemia. Conclusions Obesity was found to be a significant predictor for mortality among inpatients with COVID‐19 after adjusting for age, gender, and other comorbidities. Patients with obesity were also more likely to present with hypoxemia.