Obesity is Associated with Increased Risk for Mortality Among Hospitalized Patients with COVID‐19

Pettit, Natasha N.; MacKenzie, Erica L.; Ridgway, Jessica; Pursell, Kenneth; Ash, Daniel; Patel, Bhakti; Pho, Mai T.

OBJECTIVE: Obesity has been identified as a risk factor for severe COVID‐19 caused by the SARS‐CoV2 virus, however a direct association with mortality has not been reported. We sought to determine whether obesity is a risk factor for mortality among COVID‐19 patients. METHODS: The study was a retrospective cohort, including patients with COVID‐19 between March 1 and April 18, 2020. The primary objective was to determine if obesity is a predictor of mortality. RESULTS: A total of 238 patients were included, 218 patients (91.6%) were African American, 113 (47.5%) were male, and the mean age was 58.5 years. Of the included patients, 146 (61.3%) were obese (BMI >30kg/m(2)), with 63 (26.5%), 29 (12.2%), and 54 (22.7%) with class 1, 2, and 3 obesity, respectively. Obesity was identified as a predictor for mortality (OR 1.7(1.1‐2.8),p=0.016), as was male gender (OR 5.2(1.6‐16.5),p=0.01) and older age (OR 3.6(2.0‐6.3),p<0.0005). Obesity (OR 1.7(1.3‐2.1),p<0.0005) and older age (OR 1.3(1.0‐1.6),p=0.03) were also risk factors for hypoxemia. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity was found to be a significant predictor for mortality among inpatients with COVID‐19 after adjusting for age, gender, and other comorbidities. Patients with obesity were also more likely to present with hypoxemia.