Metabolic syndrome increases COVID-19-related mortality in the UK Biobank sample

Morys, Filip; Dagher, Alain

Previous studies link obesity and individual components of metabolic syndrome to increased hospitalisations and death rates of patients with COVID-19. Here, in two overlapping samples of over 1,000 individuals from the UK Biobank we investigate whether metabolic syndrome, and its constituent components, increased waist circumference, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, diabetes, and systemic inflammation, are related to increased COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. Using logistic regression and controlling for confounding variables such as socioeconomic status, age, sex or ethnicity, we find that individuals with pre-existing metabolic syndrome (measured on average eleven years prior to 2020) have an increased risk for COVID-19-related death (odds ratio 1.67). We also find that specific factors contributing to increased mortality are serum glucose levels, systolic blood pressure and waist circumference.