Weight status of patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit for management of COVID19

ABSTRACT

Rationale Obesity has been proposed as a risk factor for severe illness and invasive ventilation in patients with COVID191. Additionally, malnutrition is highly prevalent in critically unwell patients, regardless of baseline weight status2. The aim of this analysis was to determine the baseline weight status and weight change in patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) for management of COVID19. Methods: Baseline weight on admission to ICU was collected from the records of all patients admitted with COVID19. Weight change during ICU admission was calculated for patients who survived and had an ICU length of stay (LOS) ≥ 5 days. Results: Sixty four patients were admitted to the ICU for management of COVID19 (mean age 60.6yrs (range 21-90yrs), 66% male, mean ICU LOS 16.5 days (range 1-71days)). Weight status in this cohort is presented below. [Formula presented] 69% of patients experienced at least 5% weight loss during ICU admission and 31% had greater than 10% weight loss, despite provision of nutrition support. Conclusion: Overweight and obesity were prevalent in patients admitted to our ICU for management of COVID19. Significant weight loss in this cohort confirms that malnutrition and obesity co-exist in critically unwell patients. These findings are consistent with emerging data from other centres internationally3 and inform appropriate nutritional management of this cohort of critically ill patients. References 1Simonnet et al. Obesity (2020) 28 1195-1199, 2Lew et al. JPEN (2017) 41(5)744–58, 3House et al., ICNARC 2020. Disclosure of Interest None declared.