Association between Long COVID and Overweight/Obesity

Abstract

Background: Long COVID is a syndrome characterized by the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 infection symptoms. Among HCWs, prolonged COVID symptoms could lead to the inability to perform work tasks. The aim of this study is to investigate 35-day long-COVID (35-LC) characteristics and risk factors in a one-year period. Methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study during the COVID-19 pandemic at University Hospital of Bari. A total of 5750 HCWs were tested for close contact with a confirmed case, in the absence of personal protective equipment, or for symptom development. Results: Each positive HCW was investigated for cardiovascular risk factors or respiratory diseases. An amount of 352 HCWs (6.1%) were infected by SARS-CoV-2, and 168 cases evolved to long COVID. The 35-LC group showed mean BMI values higher than the non-35-LC group (25.9 kg/m2 vs. 24.8 kg/m2, respectively), and this difference was significant (p-value: 0.020). Moreover, HCWs who suffered from pulmonary disease (OR = 3.7, CL 95%: 1.35–10.53; p-value = 0.007) or overweight (OR = 1.6 CL 95%: 1.05–2.56; p-value = 0.029) had an increased risk of developing 35-LC. Conclusions: Long COVID is an emerging problem for hospital managers as it may reduce the number of HCWs deployed in the fight against COVID-19. High BMI and previous pulmonary disease could be risk factors for 35-LC development in exposed HCWs.

Obesity and lipid metabolism disorders determine the risk for development of long COVID syndrome: a cross-sectional study from 50,402 COVID-19 patients

“…Sigfrid et al showed that women under age 50 were up to five times less likely to report feeling recovered and twice as likely to report worse fatigue than men of the same age [ 17 ]. A recent study of a cohort of healthcare workers (HCW) made observations that point in a similar direction to our data on a larger and more representative population, showing an OR of 1.6 for HCWs who were overweight and an OR of 3.7 for HCWs who had lung disease [ 18 ].…”

Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19: A metabolic perspective

“…One study in Italian healthcare workers found obesity to be a major risk factor for PASC. In a recent Cell paper, the authors demonstrated that T2D and high levels of acute SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia were strong predisposing risk factors for PASC ( Su et al, 2022 ; Vimercati et al, 2021 ). In another case–control study, patients with T2D who developed COVID-19 had a much greater likelihood of having high fatigue scores postinfection than those controls who were not infected ( Mittal et al, 2021 ).…”

COVID-19 Infection in Children and Infants: Current Status on Therapies and Vaccines

“…An increase has also been described in the use of drugs and of behaviors as binge drinking, self-destructive behaviors, pathologic use of social media as well as uncontrolled eating. This important change in eating patterns adjuvated by a decrease in physical activity has led to a growth in obesity rates [ 33 ] and overweight conditions in general [ 34 , 35 ]. Another factor was sleep disturbances.…”