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. 2021 Jan;23(1):258-262.
doi: 10.1111/dom.14199. Epub 2020 Oct 11.

Obesity as a risk factor for COVID-19 mortality in women and men in the UK biobank: Comparisons with influenza/pneumonia and coronary heart disease

Sanne A E Peters  1   2   3 , Stephen MacMahon  1   3 , Mark Woodward  1   3   4
Affiliations

Obesity as a risk factor for COVID-19 mortality in women and men in the UK biobank: Comparisons with influenza/pneumonia and coronary heart disease

Sanne A E Peters et al. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Obesity is associated with severe COVID-19 outcomes, yet, it is unclear whether the risk of COVID-19 mortality associated with obesity is similar between the sexes. We used data from the UK Biobank to assess the risk of COVID-19 mortality associated with various anthropometric measures in women and men. To put these results in context, we also compared these estimates with those for mortality from influenza/pneumonia and coronary heart disease (CHD). The analyses included 502 493 individuals (54% women), of whom 410 (36% women) died from COVID-19, 549 (36% women) died from influenza/pneumonia and 3355 (19% women) died from CHD. A higher body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and waist-to-height ratio were each associated with a greater risk of death from COVID-19, influenza/pneumonia and CHD in both sexes, with the exception of the association between higher BMI and the risk of influenza/pneumonia death in men. A higher BMI was associated with a stronger risk of COVID-19 mortality in women than men; the women-to-men ratio of hazard ratios was 1.20 (95% confidence interval 1.00; 1.43). This study demonstrates the role of obesity in COVID-19 mortality and shows that the relative effects of a higher BMI on COVID-19 mortality may be stronger in women than men.

Keywords: body composition; cardiovascular disease; cohort study.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Penalized spline plots with adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for death from COVID‐19, influenza/pneumonia or coronary heart disease (CHD) associated with body mass index. Analyses are adjusted for age, Townsend index, smoking status and ethnicity
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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