Overweight, obesity and COVID19 pneumonia in a real life clinical setting; Does size really matter?

Abstract

Introduction: Overweight and obesity constitute risk factors for COVID19. Their impact on clinical outcomes in real life clinical settings needs to be further clarified.

Aim: To investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of overweight and obese patients admitted to a tertiary Respiratory Department between 09.2020-01.2022 and compare them against normoweight patients.

Materials and Methods: Retrospective study of all medical records and local COVID19 registry, clinical data collection, processing and interpretation.

Results: During 09.2020-01.2022, 760 patients were admitted to our department due to COVID19 pneumonia and 40 of those were overweight and obese (19 males, 21 females). Mean age was 55.3 years versus 57.43 years which was the mean age for normoweight patients. 17.5% had no known comorbidities. Arterial hypertension was the most common comorbidity (52.5%), followed by diabetes (27.5%), dyslipidaemia (15%) and hypothyroidism (15%). Mean hospital stay was 12.4 days versus 11.6 days for normoweight patients (p= 0.6). Obese/overweight patients presented with higher intubation and mechanical ventilation rates (12.5%) in comparison with the normoweight (4.4%, p:0.001). 28d mortality was 5% as opposed to 3.88% for the rest of patients (p=0.03).

Conclusions: Obese and overweight patients admitted with COVID19 pneumonia in our department constituted a middle age group where their weight was not a risk factor per se for prolonged hospital stay, however it contributed towards higher mortality, increased intubation rates and need for mechanical ventilation.