ABSTRACT
Background: Obesity is considered a risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness. Thus, individuals with obesity may be especially motivated to lose weight because of COVID-19. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess COVID-related motivators to lose weight and whether they predict weight loss. Methods: In this prospective study, 530 new users of a digital commercial weight loss program completed a baseline survey in January 2021 assessing overall motivation to lose weight due to COVID (one item: 'how much of your interest in losing weight is because of COVID-19 or its impact, however minor, on your life?'), and three specific COVID motivators. These specific motivators were measured by the validated Fear of COVID-19 scale (F-C), one item assessing motivation to improve eating habits which got worse during COVID-19 (EH-C), and one item assessing motivation to prevent diseases that could increase COVID-19 risk (D-C). The main outcome was weight loss at 2 months, extracted from self-reported weight on the program. Results: Participants were 84% female, had a median age of 46, mean baseline BMI of 32.12 (SD = 6.96), and lost 3.13kg (3.49%) at 2 months (SD = 2.72kg). Overall COVID motivation was high;66% reported that their interest in losing weight was due to COVID. There was high F-C (M = 25.2 out of 35) and EH-C (M = 7.7 out of 10), and moderate D-C (M = 5.4 out of 10). Despite high COVID-related motivation, overall motivation, F-C, and EH-C did not predict weight loss at 2 months. D-C marginally significantly predicted weight loss at 2 months (B = -. 09, p = .06). Conclusions: Results suggest that even though individuals showed initial high motivation due to COVID, it did not manifest in actual weight loss, except in the most at-risk individuals who sought to prevent diseases that put them at greater risk. Individuals may need support to translate initial COVID-related motivation to actual weight loss. Next, we will examine relationships between COVID motivators, vaccination status, and weight loss at 4 months.
ABSTRACT
IntroductionClozapine is among the most effective antipsychotics used for treatment resistant schizophrenia. Adverse reactions to clozapine include neutropenia. Case series report that clozapine-treated patients with COVID-19 have no documented neutropenia.ObjectivesWe sought to investigate the potential adverse effect of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in patients taking clozapine.MethodsWe retrospectively inspected data of 13 consecutive patients on clozapine, admitted to Highgate Mental Health Centre -Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust between March and June 2020. Selection was based on their COVID-19 symptoms presentation and/or COVID-19 positive test. We used a linear regression model with COVID status as independent variable and absolute neutrophil count (ANC) as dependent variable to inform about a correlation between COVID-19 status and neutrophil count. STATA was used for statistics.ResultsWe collected data on thirteen patients of which nine were male. The median age was of 41.97 years;six subjects were Black, three were Asian and four were White Caucasian. Ten subjects tested positive to COVID-19 and 3 were suspected cases -these latter were excluded from stastical analysis. During COVID-19 infection, neutrophils count (ANC) dropped significantly to 4.215 from a baseline value of 5.337. The beta values of 0.83 shows that ANC declined significantly during COVID-19 infection (p =<.0001, R2 = 95%). In three of thirteen patients, ANC drop was significant and changed the patients’ monitoring status from green to amber and required frequent blood tests.ConclusionsClinicians should bear in mind that a significant drop in neutrophils count may occur in COVID-19 -infected patients taking clozapine.DisclosureNo significant relationships.