Association between obesity and COVID-19 mortality and length of stay in intensive care unit patients in Brazil: a retrospective cohort study.

The present study aimed to evaluate the association between obesity and COVID-19 mortality and length of stay in ICU patients, and how these associations were modified by age groups. We performed a retrospective multicenter cohort study with data obtained from a hospital-based registry. The sample consisted of 8183 ICU hospitalized patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Cox proportional models were used to evaluate the association between BMI categories and COVID-19 mortality and generalized linear models for the length of stay in the ICU. After adjusting for confounders, those in the younger group with severe obesity had an increased risk of COVID-19 mortality compared to those with normal/overweight (HR 1.27; 95% CI 1.01-1.61). An increased risk of death was also observed for patients with underweight (HR 3.74; 95% CI 1.39-10.07). For patients aged ≥ 60 year, mild/moderate obesity was associated with reduced mortality risk (HR 0.87; 95% CI 0.78-0.97). For the age group < 60 year, the length of stay in ICU for those patients with severe obesity was 35% higher compared to the normal/overweight category (eß 1.35; 95% CI 1.21-1.51). Conversely, for the survivors in the underweight category, the length of stay in ICU was 51% lower compared to the normal/overweight group (eß 0.49; 95% CI 0.31-0.78). In the age group ≥ 60 year, mild/moderate obesity was associated with an increased length of stay in the ICU (eß 1.10; 95% CI 1.01-1.21), adjusting for confounders. These findings could be helpful for health professionals to identify subgroups at higher risk for worse outcomes.

High discrepancies in the mortality of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the two most economically important states in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the proportion of deaths among hospitalized cases of COVID-19 in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, stratified by private and public services. METHODS: Hospitalization data for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) were obtained using the SIVEP-Gripe Database. All hospitalized adults who were diagnosed as COVID-19 or unspecified SARS, between January and December 2020, were included in the analysis. Logistic regression models were fitted to evaluate the risk of death between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidities. RESULTS: A total of 388,657 hospital registers for Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (91,532 and 297,125, respectively) were analyzed. Missing data are frequent in the database and it was greater in Rio de Janeiro, at the state and capital levels. Adjusting for confounders, the odds ratio of dying by COVID-19, comparing the state of Rio de Janeiro with São Paulo, was 2.51 in the private hospitals and 2.29 in the public ones. For the capitals, the scenario is worse. The lethality among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 is at least twice in Rio de Janeiro than São Paulo, both at the states and capitals. The public or private services showed important differences, with odds ratios of 2.74 and 3.46, respectively. CONCLUSION: It appears that the worst governance in the health sector in Rio de Janeiro, more than lack of resources, explains the excess mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Rio de Janeiro.