Risk of hospitalization and mortality due to COVID-19 in people with obesity: An analysis of data from a Brazilian state

Abstract

The aim of this article is to assess the odds ratio of hospitalization and mortality due to COVID-19 in people with obesity using data from residents of Espírito Santo, Brazil. An observational, quantitative, cross-sectional study was carried out from the database available on the official channel of the State Health Secretariat of Espírito Santo. Crude odds ratio estimates (ORs) referring to the association between variables were calculated, as well as adjusted odds ratios (adjusted odds ratios—OR adj.) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (CI 95%). The results indicate that men, non-white, no education or with lower education level and age over 40 years old were more likely to be hospitalized and died of COVID-19. People with obesity are at risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 54% and 113% higher than people who do not have obesity. People with obesity had a higher chance of hospitalization when they were over 40 years old, had breathing difficulty, and the comorbidities diabetes (2.18 higher) and kidney disease (4.10 higher). The odds ratio of death for people with obesity over 60 years old was 12.51 higher, and those who were hospitalized was 17.9 higher compared to those who were not hospitalized.

Association of the IFNG +874T/A Polymorphism with Symptomatic COVID-19 Susceptibility

“…Our results confirm the previously observed trends that indicate a higher risk for severe COVID-19 in older patients and those with comorbidities [ 25 , 26 ].…”

Association of IFNAR2 rs2236757 and OAS3 rs10735079 polymorphisms with susceptibility to COVID-19 infection and severity

“…Surprisingly, patients with the risk allele rs10735079A were unlikely to have a sore throat or muscle aches; in particular, the community cases group was less likely to have a sore throat, and the ICU subgroup was less prone to muscle aches. Given that the risk allele rs10735079A was found to be associated with critical COVID-19 illness in multiple previous studies [7,37], the inverse association of the risk allele rs10735079A with having a sore throat might be consistent with Reis et al and Sadeghifar et al findings indicating that sore throat might have a protective effect against COVID-19 hospitalization and death [33,34].…”

“…Reis et al reported in a cross-sectional study with nearly 60,000 COVID-19 patients that fever and breathing difficulty increased the chances of hospitalization and death. However, running nose, sore throat, diarrhea, and headache were associated with lower odds of hospitalization and death; they concluded that these symptoms indicate a protective effect [33]. Sadeghifar et al showed in their binary logistic regression model of disease outcome by disease symptoms that shortness of breath and abnormal chest radiographic findings were predictors of higher mortality.…”

The effect of obesity on the mortality of hospitalized adults with COVID‐19 considering the human development index: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…In 2021, Latin America accounted for almost a quarter of all recorded deaths from COVID‐19. Reis et al 77 and Osawa and Maciel 78 showed that obesity can be considered a risk factor for hospitalization and death due to COVID‐19 in Brazilian individuals.…”