Obesity and Mortality Among Patients Diagnosed With COVID-19: Results From an Integrated Health Care Organization

Abstract

Background: Obesity, race/ethnicity, and other correlated characteristics have emerged as high-profile risk factors for adverse coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated outcomes, yet studies have not adequately disentangled their effects.

Objective: To determine the adjusted effect of body mass index (BMI), associated comorbidities, time, neighborhood-level sociodemographic factors, and other factors on risk for death due to COVID-19.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Kaiser Permanente Southern California, a large integrated health care organization.

Patients: Kaiser Permanente Southern California members diagnosed with COVID-19 from 13 February to 2 May 2020.

Measurements: Multivariable Poisson regression estimated the adjusted effect of BMI and other factors on risk for death at 21 days; models were also stratified by age and sex.

Results: Among 6916 patients with COVID-19, there was a J-shaped association between BMI and risk for death, even after adjustment for obesity-related comorbidities. Compared with patients with a BMI of 18.5 to 24 kg/m², those with BMIs of 40 to 44 kg/m² and greater than 45 kg/m² had relative risks of 2.68 (95% CI, 1.43 to 5.04) and 4.18 (CI, 2.12 to 8.26), respectively. This risk was most striking among those aged 60 years or younger and men. Increased risk for death associated with Black or Latino race/ethnicity or other sociodemographic characteristics was not detected.

Limitation: Deaths occurring outside a health care setting and not captured in membership files may have been missed.

Conclusion: Obesity plays a profound role in risk for death from COVID-19, particularly in male patients and younger populations. Our capitated system with more equalized health care access may explain the absence of effect of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities on death. Our data highlight the leading role of severe obesity over correlated risk factors, providing a target for early intervention.

Primary funding source: Roche-Genentech.

Visual Abstract.. Obesity and Mortality Among Patients Diagnosed With COVID-19

Emerging reports suggest that obese patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19 may have worse outcomes; whether this association extends to those who are not hospitalized is unclear. This study examines the association between obesity and death 21 days after diagnosis of COVID-19 among patients who receive care in an integrated health care system, accounting for obesity-related comorbidities and sociodemographic factors.

Figure 1.. Forest plot of final adjusted risk factors for death in overall population (n = 6916).

BMI = body mass index; DM = diabetes mellitus; RR = risk ratio.

Figure 2.. Forest plots of adjusted risk factors for death (n = 6916), stratified by age (top) and sex (bottom).

Models were adjusted for sex, race/ethnicity, age, tobacco use, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic pulmonary disease, renal disease, metastatic tumor or malignancy, other immune disease, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, asthma, organ transplant, and diabetes status and hemoglobin A_1c level. BMI = body mass index; RR = risk ratio.