The association of obesity level and inhospital survival of patients with covid-19 who received corticosteroids

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Obesity is one of the most frequent comorbidities among COVID-19 patients. Although previous studies have shown higher body mass index (BMI) is associated with higher mortality, steroids as the current standard treatment for moderate to severe COVID-19 infection were not applied in most patients in these studies. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that patients with higher BMI still have higher mortality even on steroids. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 4,587 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who received corticosteroids between March 1 , 2020, and March 30 , 2021. We divided patients into 6 groups by BMI[MOU1] (less 18.5, 18.5-25, 25-30, 30-35, 35-40, 40 or greater, kg/m2 ) and investigated in-hospital mortality as the primary outcome, in-hospital mortality among severe COVID-19 patients which was defined as requiring intensive care unit or endotracheal intubation as a subgroup analysis, and acute kidney injury (AKI) incidence rate as the secondary outcome. Results: Patients with higher BMI were younger and more likely to have a history of asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, diabetes, and less likely to have malignancies. The smooth spline curve showed J curve association of BMI with risk adjusted in-hospital mortality with flexion point at BMI between 25 and 30 kg/m2 (Figure 1). Compared to overweight (25≤BMI<30 kg/m2 ) patients, class III obesity (BMI>40 kg/m2 ) was associated with higher risk adjusted in-hospital mortality overall (Table 1) as well as among patients with severe COVID-19 (OR [95% CI] 3.21 [1.86-5.66], P<0.001). Class III obesity was also associated with a higher risk adjusted incidence of AKI (OR [95% CI] 1.52 [1.06-2.18], P=0.024) compared to overweight patients. Conclusions: Class III obesity was associated with higher in-hospital mortality and AKI incidence rate in COVID-19 patients with steroids treatment.