Association of obesity and mortality in sepsis patients: A meta-analysis from observational evidence

Liang Gao; Jun Jin Liu; Qi Chao Fan; Li Ting Ling; Hai Bo Ding

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19556

Association of obesity and mortality in sepsis patients: A meta-analysis from observational evidence

Heliyon. 2023 Aug 30;9(9):e19556. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19556. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Liang Gao^{1

2}, Jun Jin Liu^{1

2}, Qi Chao Fan^{1

2}, Li Ting Ling^{1

2}, Hai Bo Ding^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China.
² Department of Infectious Disease, National Regional Medical Center, Binhai Campus, of the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350212, China.

Abstract

The project aims to investigate the correlation between obesity, overweight, or low body weight and the risk of mortality in sepsis patients. We performed a rigorous and thorough search of major electronic databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library, from the inception of these databases up to March 28, 2023. The data were analyzed with Stata software (version 16.0). Twelve studies incorporating 521,207 individuals were enrolled. The results demonstrated that obesity (OR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.69-0.97; P < 0.001) or overweight (OR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.73-0.94; P < 0.001) decreased the risk of mortality in sepsis patients. Instead, the reverse phenomena existed in patients with a low weight (OR = 1.43; 95%CI: 1.16-1.76; P = 0.038). There is an "obesity paradox" phenomenon in the mortality of obese and overweight patients with sepsis, but low body weight is an independent risk factor for the mortality of sepsis patients. This study demonstrated that the mortality in sepsis patients and obesity or overweight were negatively correlated, but displayed a significant positive relation to low weight.

Keywords: Meta-analysis; Obesity; Overweight; Sepsis; Systematic review.