Higher Obesity Trends Among African Americans Are Associated with Increased Mortality in Infected COVID-19 Patients Within the City of Detroit

Asare, Smart; Sandio, Aubin; Opara, Ijeoma Nnodim; Riddle-Jones, Latonya; Palla, Mohan; Renny, Nkechi; Ayers, Eric

As the city of Detroit raids itself of deaths by shifting from homicides, COVID-19 infection continues to harrow the city with more deaths. From March 19 to May 15, more Detroiters died in 2 months than were killed in 2 years of city homicides. African Americans or Blacks (highest-risk phenotypes) developing COVID-19 infection are more likely to die disproportionately. The confluence of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and the higher prevalence of obesity among Blacks have provided the needed environment for viruses like COVID-19 to thrive and cause serious infections. The purpose of this study is to connect mortality rates from COVID-19 infection to increasing obesity trends among African Americans within the city of Detroit. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS ver. 23. Results showed that the highest mortality rates among African Americans occurred more in the obese individuals infected with COVID-19 in the city of Detroit. Out of 1930 deaths from COVID-19 infections, 733 deaths were due to obesity alone in patients without reported comorbid conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Mortality rate for both male and female African Americans amounted to a total of 11.9%. Thirty-eight percent of reported COVID-19-infected African Americans were obese. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s42399-020-00385-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.