Obesity has been found to be a risk factor for hospitalization with COVID‐19. This cross-sectional study analyzed whether patients hospitalized with COVID‐19 differed in BMI at older versus younger ages, and determined whether trends were independent of diabetes and hypertension.
The authors examined data from patients hospitalized with moderate to severe COVID‐19 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital from March 19th, 2020 until April 4th, 2020. They compared patients hospitalized with COVID‐19 above and below the age of 50, and to those hospitalized without COVID‐19.They found that younger patients (age <50 years) with COVID‐19 had higher mean BMI than older patients with COVID‐19, with and without diabetes and hypertension (BMI 43.1 versus 30.1; p=0.02). This trend did not exist in patients without COVID‐19 hospitalized during the same time‐period.
The authors suggest that weight-related medical conditions may play a role in more severe COVID-19, especially with young patients, and require additional study.
