Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome (Sep 2022)

Association between Obesity and Length of COVID-19 Hospitalization: Unexpected Insights from the American Heart Association National COVID-19 Registry

  • William J. Collins,
  • Andrew Y. Chang,
  • Yingjie Weng,
  • Alex Dahlen,
  • Connor G. O’Brien,
  • Jason Hom,
  • Neera Ahuja,
  • Fatima Rodriguez,
  • Nidhi Rohatgi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7570/jomes22042
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 31, no. 3
pp. 277 – 281

Abstract

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Background : The mechanism for possible association between obesity and poor clinical outcomes from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains unclear. Methods : We analyzed 22,915 adult COVID-19 patients hospitalized from March 2020 to April 2021 to non-intensive care using the American Heart Association National COVID Registry. A multivariable Poisson model adjusted for age, sex, medical history, admission respiratory status, hospitalization characteristics, and laboratory findings was used to calculate length of stay (LOS) as a function of body mass index (BMI). We similarly analyzed 5,327 patients admitted to intensive care for comparison. Results : Relative to normal BMI subjects, overweight, class I obese, and class II obese patients had approximately half-day reductions in LOS (-0.469 days, P<0.01; -0.480 days, P<0.01; -0.578 days, P<0.01, respectively). Conclusion : The model identified a dose-dependent, inverse relationship between BMI category and LOS for COVID-19, which was not seen when the model was applied to critically ill patients.

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