Obesity and the COVID-19: Analysis of the clinical and epidemiological profiles of 138 individuals

ABSTRACT

SUMMARY INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the disease caused by a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the ongoing obesity pandemic, its coexistence with COVID-19 becomes worrying and has a less favorable outcome. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the clinical and epidemiological profiles of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in individuals with obesity in the state of Alagoas. METHODS: The observational cross-sectional study involving 138 confirmed cases of COVID-19 who had obesity as a comorbidity reported at the time of notification of the disease. The data were collected from the COVID-19 database in the state of Alagoas, and the variables analyzed were sex, age (and age group), race/color, outcome, clinical manifestations, and associated comorbidities. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney U, χ², or Fisher's exact tests were performed as appropriate. The significance was set at 5 and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: There was a predominance of females (55.1%; n=76), aged <60 years (70.3%; n=97) and brown race/color (n=76; 55.1%). The most prevalent symptoms were cough (n=84; 60.9%), fever (n=78; 56.5%), headache (n=36; 26.1%), and adynamia (n=28; 20.3%). The median age was 49 years, with no difference between genders (p=0.340). The lethality rate was 17.4% (n=24), being higher in the male population (22.6% in males and 13.2% in females). Of the 24 deaths, 13 (54.2%) were recorded in the elderly people. In addition to obesity, 54.3% (n=75) had systemic arterial hypertension and 30.4% (n=42) had diabetes mellitus. There was no difference in the prevalence of comorbidity between genders. CONCLUSIONS: The profile studied demonstrates that obesity represents a challenge for coping with COVID-19.