Increased Severity of COVID-19 In Obese Patients: a Meta-analysis

The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of obesity in the pathogenesis of severe COVID?19 infection. The relation between obesity and severe COVID-19 has not been completely recorded. PUBMED, Cochrane Clinical trials database, Google Scholar and MEDLINE were used to search for literature. Comprehensive Meta-analysis software and Excel were used to analyze data. The retrospective cohort study examined the correlation between BMI and in patients accepted in intensive care for COVID-19. Nine studies were chosen with a total of 340,811 patients were selected. Patients with a severe COVID-19 cases had varying pooled odds ratios based on BMI; for BMI of 25-29.9 kg/m2 1.24 (random; 95% CI: 1.03-1.48; p = 0.374; I2 =0.000), for BMI of 30-34.9 kg/m2 2.01 (random; 95% CI: 1.41-2.88; p = 0.041; I2 = 59.942) and for BMI of ?35 kg/m2 2.16 (random; 95% CI: 1.61-2.89; p = 0.172; I2 = 43.242). These studies also showed a linear increase in percentage of severe COVID-19 cases based on increasing BMI. The present study indicates a high frequency of obesity among patients accepted in intensive care for COVID-19. Disease severity escalates with Body mass index (BMI). Obesity is a risk factor for COVID-19 severity. Awareness of this severity is needed to be spread widely so as to curtail overweight or obesity