Association of obesity with COVID-19 diseases severity and mortality: A meta-analysis of studies

Suhad Abumweis; Waed Alrefai; Foad Alzoughool

doi:10.1016/j.obmed.2022.100431

Association of obesity with COVID-19 diseases severity and mortality: A meta-analysis of studies

Obes Med. 2022 Aug:33:100431. doi: 10.1016/j.obmed.2022.100431. Epub 2022 Jun 9.

Authors

Suhad Abumweis^{1

2}, Waed Alrefai³, Foad Alzoughool^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, 64141, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
² Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan.
³ Department of Health Science and Biostatistics, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia.
⁴ Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan.
⁵ Faculty of Health Sciences, Fujairah Women's College, Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates.

Abstract

Background: The literature on COVID-19 infection is growing every single day, and evidence of presence or absence of association between obesity and COVID-19 adverse outcomes should be revisited. Therefore, this study summarizes the pooled association of obesity with COVID-19 adverse outcomes and mortality.

Methods: We searched PubMed and Science direct databases using specific terms and defined criteria. Data were analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V2 (Biostat, Englewood, NJ, USA)) random-effect models were used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of infection severity and mortality associated with obesity.

Results: Results revealed that obesity is not associated with COVID-19 mortality (OR = 1.1; 95%CI: 0.8 to 1.3) but with other adverse outcomes (OR = 2.4; 95%CI: 1.7 to 3.3).

Conclusion: Our findings support previous findings that obesity is associated with COVID-19 severity.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Mortality; Obesity; Severity.