High BMI independently associated with death and longer ICU stay for
COVID patients
Obese patients were twice as likely to experience a prolonged ICU stay or
die, in a large Swedish cohort study

Date:
October 13, 2021
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
In patients with COVID-19, a high body mass index (BMI) is
associated with an increased risk of death and prolonged intensive
care unit (ICU) stay, according to a new study.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In patients with COVID-19, a high body mass index (BMI) is associated
with an increased risk of death and prolonged intensive care unit (ICU)
stay, according to a new study published this week in the open-access
journal PLOS ONE by Lovisa Sjo"gren of Sahlgrenska Academy at University
of Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues.


========================================================================== Previous studies have shown that a high BMI is a risk factor for severe
COVID- 19. Obesity increases the risk of comorbidities such as type 2
diabetes and hypertension, and has been shown to increase the need for mechanical ventilation in association with other respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza and pneumonia.

In the new study, Sjo"gren and colleagues analyzed data on 1,649 COVID-19 patients from the Swedish Intensive Care Registry, a national quality
registry which covers all ICUs in Sweden. The patients included in
the study were admitted to ICUs during the first wave of the COVID-19
pandemic, between March 6 and August 30, 2020, 96% had a positive PCR
test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus or a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19, were
all over the age of 18, and had current weight and height data available.

A majority of the study cohort had a high BMI; 78.3% were overweight
or had obesity. There was a significant association between increasing
BMI and the composite outcome of death during intensive care, or an
ICU stay of longer than 14 days in survivors (OR per SD increase: 1.29
95%CI 1.16-1.43 adjusted for age, and sex). Individuals with a BMI of
35 kg/m2 or more were twice as likely to have one of the outcomes of
death or prolonged ICU stay, adjusted for age and sex. Moreover, this association remained after adjusting for the presence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, liver or kidney disease,
as well as after adjusting for severity of illness at ICU admission
(OR 2.02 [1.39-2.94] versus normal weight). The authors conclude that
obesity is an independent risk factor for severe outcome from intensive
care in patients with COVID-19 and suggest that BMI be included in the
severity scoring for COVID-19 ICU patients.

The authors add: "In this large cohort of Swedish ICU patients
with COVID-19, a high BMI was associated with increasing
risk of death and prolonged length of stay in the ICU. Based
on our findings, we suggest that individuals with obesity
should be more closely monitored when hospitalized for COVID-19." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Lovisa Sjo"gren, Erik Stenberg, Meena Thuccani, Jari Martikainen,
Christian Rylander, Ville Wallenius, Torsten Olbers, Jenny
M. Kindblom.

Impact of obesity on intensive care outcomes in patients with
COVID-19 in Sweden--A cohort study. PLOS ONE, 2021; 16 (10):
e0257891 DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0257891 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211013152136.htm

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