Association Between Obesity and Covid-19 Disease Severity: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction Obesity is a major risk factor for adverse outcomes after infection with Severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus -2. This study aimed to evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) with COVID-19 disease. A cross sectional study Materials And Methods conducted in SIMSRH, Tumkur during the study period from April 1, 2021 to may 31, 2021. Laboratory conrmed cases of covid-19 of moderate to severe category admitted in SIMSRH were enrolled in the study. All the ndings were recorded in the proforma and analysed. Results A total of 63 patients satisfying both inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the present study. Out of 63 patients, majority (71.43%) of the patients were male and remaining(28.75%) were female. In the present study group, two ( 3%) had BMI < 18.5, 23 (36%) had BMI 18.5-24.9, 30 (47%) had BMI between 25-29.9 and eight (12%) had BMI over 30. According to present study ndings, patients with higher BMI are associated with increased risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease requiring ICU admissions, mechanical ventilation, longer duration of oxygen therapy and prolonged hospital stay. This study found that patients with higher BMI had a increa Conclusion se in risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease. This suggests that obesity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 and inuence the disease outcomes