The impact of obesity on hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

This study aimed to assess the association of obesity with the severity and outcome of COVID-19 infection. A retrospective observational study was performed from March to September 2020 in Saudi Arabia. Baseline and laboratory data were collected from the inpatient health record system. The cohort was divided into three groups based on body mass index. Following this, the severity and outcome of COVID-19 disease were analyzed between the three groups. Of the 502 COVID-19 cases included, 244 (48.5%) were obese. Obesity was significantly associated with severe (53.5%) or critical (28%) COVID-19 infection (P<0.001) and a higher need for ICU admission (35.8%, P=0.034). Multivariate analysis showed that overweight/obesity was an independent risk factor of severe (P<0.001) as well as critical COVID-19 infection (P=0.026, respectively) and a predictor of a higher risk of ICU admission (P=0.012). Class I obesity was associated with severe-critical COVID-19 disease (33.6%, P=0.042) compared to other obesity classes. Obesity is an independent risk factor for severe-critical COVID-19 infection and a higher risk of ICU admission. Clinicians should give special attention to such populations and prioritize vaccination programs to improve outcomes.

The Impact of Vitamin D Level on the Severity and Outcome of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 Disease.

PURPOSE: The world is experiencing a life-altering and extraordinary situation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are limited data and controversies regarding the relationship between vitamin D (Vit D) status and COVID-19 disease. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the association between Vit D levels and the severity or outcomes of COVID-19 disease. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia from January to August 2021. All the admitted patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection were distributed into three groups depending on their Vit D levels: normal, insufficiency, and deficiency. For the three groups, demographic data, and laboratory investigations as well as data regarding the severity of COVID-19 were collected and analysed. RESULTS: A total of 203 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 were included in this study. The Vit D level was normal (>30) in 31 (15.3%) cases, insufficient in 45 (22.2%) cases and deficient in 127 (62.6%) cases. Among the included cases, 58 (28.6%) were critical cases, 109 (53.7%) were severe and 36 (17.7%) had a mild-moderate COVID-19 infection. The most prevalent comorbidity of patients was diabetes mellitus 117 (57.6%), followed by hypertension 70 (34.5%), cardiac disease 24 (11.8%), chronic kidney disease 19 (9.4%) and chronic respiratory disease in 17 (8.4%) cases. Importantly, the current study did not detect any significant association between Vit D status and COVID-19 severity (p-value=0.371) or outcomes (hospital stay, intensive care units admission, ventilation, and mortality rate) (p-value > 0.05), even after adjusting the statistical model for the confounders. CONCLUSION: In hospital settings, Vit D levels are not associated with the severity or outcomes of COVID-19 disease. Further, well-designed studies are required to determine whether Vit D status provides protective effects against worse COVID-19 outcomes.

The Impact of Diabetes Mellitus and Hyperglycemia on the Severity and Outcome of Patients with COVID-19 Disease: A Single-Center Experience.

PURPOSE: Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been reported to be associated with a  worse outcome of COVID-19 infection. The evidence is scarce in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. We aimed to evaluate the impact of diabetes mellitus and hyperglycemia in non-diabetic individuals on the severity and outcome of COVID-19 infection. METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study, which included patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection [RT-PCR positive for SARS-CoV2] who were admitted to King Fahd Hospital of the University-Khobar-Eastern Province-Saudi Arabia from March to September 2020. Baseline demographic data, laboratory investigations, and markers of the severity of COVID-19 were analyzed. The collected data were categorized according to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health COVID-19 infection severity criteria. Patients were divided into three groups as follows: patients in Group 1 had pre-existing DM, patients in Group 2 did not have DM but were documented to have hyperglycemia at presentation, and patients in Group 3 were neither diabetics nor hyperglycemics at presentation and served as the control group. The severity and outcome of the control group were compared with the other two groups. The effect of risk factors on the severity and outcome of COVID-19 infection was studied in the DM group. RESULTS: A total of 414 patients were included (70.5% males and 29.5% females). The mean age (SD) of patients was 52.3 (±15.5) years. Compared to the control group, pre-existing DM was found to be significantly associated with severe (OR 3.61), critical disease (OR 4.32), intensive care unit (ICU) admission (OR 2.0), and death (OR 2.0) from COVID-19 infection. Hyperglycemia without known DM was also found to be associated with critical COVID-19 pneumonia (P 0.001), and had longer duration of hospitalization (P 0.014), higher ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death from COVID-19 infection (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus and hyperglycemia at presentation, even in the absence of pre-existing DM, are independent risk factors for disease severity and worse outcome of COVID-19 infection. These patients should be identified and managed accordingly. The COVID-19 vaccination program should also target those populations to improve their outcomes.