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Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Apr;27(3):893-911.
doi: 10.1007/s40519-021-01269-3. Epub 2021 Jul 11.

The negative impact of obesity on the occurrence and prognosis of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Tahereh Raeisi  1 , Hadis Mozaffari  2 , Nazaninzahra Sepehri  3 , Mina Darand  4 , Bahman Razi  5 , Nazila Garousi  6 , Mohammad Alizadeh  7 , Shahab Alizadeh  8
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The negative impact of obesity on the occurrence and prognosis of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Tahereh Raeisi et al. Eat Weight Disord. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is an emerging pandemic, with a disease course varying from asymptomatic infection to critical disease resulting to death. Recognition of prognostic factors is essential because of its growing prevalence and high clinical costs. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the global prevalence of obesity in COVID-19 patients and to investigate whether obesity is a risk factor for the COVID-19, COVID-19 severity, and its poor clinical outcomes including hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, need for mechanical ventilation, and mortality.

Methods: The study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020203386). A systematic search of Scopus, Medline, and Web of Sciences was conducted from 31 December 2019 to 1 June 2020 to find pertinent studies. After selection, 54 studies from 10 different countries were included in the quantitative analyses. Pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the associations.

Results: The prevalence of obesity was 33% (95% CI 30.0%-35.0%) among patients with COVID-19. Obesity was significantly associated with susceptibility to COVID-19 (OR = 2.42, 95% CI 1.58-3.70; moderate certainty) and COVID-19 severity (OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.48-1.76; low certainty). Furthermore, obesity was a significant risk factor for hospitalization (OR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.47-2.09; very low certainty), mechanical ventilation (OR = 2.24, 95% CI 1.70-2.94; low certainty), intensive care unit (ICU) admission (OR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.38-2.22; low certainty), and death (OR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.06-1.41; low certainty) in COVID-19 patients. In the subgroup analyses, these associations were supported by the majority of subgroups.

Conclusion: Obesity is associated with COVID-19, need for hospitalization, mechanical ventilation, ICU admission, and death due to COVID-19.

Level of evidence: Level I, systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Keywords: COVID-19; Death; Hospitalization; Intensive care unit; Mechanical ventilation; Obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declared that they have no competing interests.

This is formally to submit the article entitled “The negative impact of obesity on the occurrence and prognosis of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis” prepared by the Tehran University of Medical Sciences for review and, hopefully, publication in your prestigious journal. The authors would like to advise that all authors listed have contributed to the work. All authors have agreed to submit the manuscript Eating and Weight Disorders—Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity. No part of the work has been published before. There is no conflict of interest in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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