The Correlation between Excess Weight and Duration of COVID-19 Symptoms in a Tertiary Hospital in Amman, Jordan

Abstract

Overweight and obesity have several negative pathophysiological consequences on the human body during COVID-19 infection. These pathophysiological consequences have a synergistic effect on disease prognosis and outcome. The association between excess weight and COVID-19 outcome has not been investigated before in Jordan. The objective of this study is to evaluate the correlation between excess body weight and the duration and severity of symptoms in patients affected by the novel corona virus in a tertiary hospital in Amman, Jordan. This is a single-center retrospective cross-sectional study of adult patients with confirmed positive COVID-19 who were admitted to a tertiary academic hospital between April and August 2020. Data were collected by telephone interviews and by the review of medical records. One hundred and seventy patients participated in the current study. Around two-thirds of the participants were female patients. Mean BMI for study participants was 27.6 ± 5.4. BMI was statistically significantly correlated with COVID-19 symptoms duration (p-value = 0.003). The mean duration of COVID-19 symptoms for obese patients was 16.0 ±7.3 days compared to a mean duration of 11.9 ±6.4 days for overweight patients and a mean duration of 12.0 ±6.1 days for patients with normal BMI. Multivariate analysis showed that higher BMI was significantly associated with increased symptom duration after controlling other variables. There is a need to increase public health efforts in fighting overweight and obesity. The Jordanian authorities are advised to develop focused awareness messages for overweight and obese individuals to have strict social distancing and other prevention measures against COVID-19. People with increased BMI are a vulnerable group for this respiratory infection and they deserve advanced and tailored efforts to protect them from its adverse outcomes.