Some studies report that obesity is associated with more severe symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection and worse COVID-19 outcomes, however many other studies have not reproduced these findings. Therefore, it is uncertain whether obesity is in fact associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes compared to non-obese individuals. We conducted a systematic search of PubMed (including MEDLINE) and Google Scholar on May 18, 2020 to identify published studies on COVID-19 outcomes in non-obese and obese patients, covering studies published during the first 6 months of the pandemic. Meta-analyses with random effects modeling was used to determine unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for various COVID-19 outcomes in obese versus non-obese patients. By quantitative analyses of 22 studies from 7 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia, we found that obesity is associated with an increased likelihood of presenting with more severe COVID-19 symptoms (OR 3.03, 95% CI 1.45–6.28, P = 0.003; 4 studies, n = 974), developing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS; OR 2.89, 95% CI 1.14–7.34, P = 0.025; 2 studies, n = 96), requiring hospitalization (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.14–1.59, P < 0.001; 4 studies, n = 6611), being admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU; OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.15–1.65, P = 0.001; 9 studies, n = 5298), and undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV; OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.29–2.40, P < 0.001; 7 studies, n = 1558) compared to non-obese patients. However, obese patients had similar likelihoods of death from COVID-19 as non-obese patients (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.74–1.25, P = 0.750; 9 studies, n = 20,597). Collectively, these data from the first 6 months of the pandemic suggested that obesity is associated with a more severe COVID-19 disease course but may not be associated with increased mortality.
【저자키워드】 Medical research, Risk factors, Outcomes research, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Europe, pandemic, intensive care, Hospitalization, SARS-COV-2 infection, obesity, outcome, Asia, outcomes, Patient, death, Quantitative, patients, severe COVID-19 disease, acute respiratory distress, Invasive mechanical ventilation, Analysis, Odds ratio, Google Scholar, 95% CI, 95% confidence interval, These data, obese, obese patients, syndrome, North America, increased mortality, random effect, country, likelihood, Course, identify, was used, conducted, determine, suggested, individuals, presenting, severe symptom, obese patient, severe COVID-19 symptom, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19, Meta-analysis, obesity, systematic review, outcome,