Excess body weight is an independent risk factor for severe forms of COVID-19
Open accessAbstract
Background and aims Few studies distinguished the independent role of overweight/obesity or their associated-comorbidities in the evolution towards severe forms of COVID-19. Obesity as a unifying risk factor for severe COVID-19 is an emerging hypothesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether excessive body weight per se, was a risk factor for developing a severe form of COVID-19.Patients and methods We included 131 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia in a single center of the internal medicine department in Marseille, France. We recorded anthropometric and metabolic parameters such as fasting glycaemia, insulinemia, HOMA-IR, lipids, and all clinical criteria linked to SARS-CoV-2 infection at the admission. Excess body weight was defined by a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2. The occurrence of a serious event was defined as a high-debit oxygen requirement over 6 L/min, admission into the intensive care unit, or death.Results Among 113 patients, two thirds (n = 76, 67%) had an excess body weight. The number of serious events was significantly higher in excess body weight patients compared to normal weight patients (respectively 25% vs 8%, p = 0.03) although excess body weight patients were younger (respectively 63.6 vs 70.3 years old, p = 0.01). In multivariate analyses, the excess body weight status was the only predictor for developing a serious event linked to SARS-CoV-2 infection, with an odds ratio at 5.6 (95% CI: 1.30-23.96; p = 0.02), independently of previous obesity associated comorbidities. There was a trend towards a positive association between the BMI (normal weight, overweight and obesity) and the risk of serious events linked to COVID-19, with a marked increase from 8.1% to 20% and 30.6% respectively (p = 0.05).Conclusion Excess body weight was significantly associated with severe forms of the disease, independently of its classical associated comorbidities. Physicians and specialists in Public Health must be sensitized to better protect people with an excess body weight against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Obesity is an independent risk factor for severe forms of COVID-19.
“obesity is an independent risk factor for severe forms of COVID-19 [14].”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Zhou, F., Yu, T., Du, R., Fan, G., Liu, Y., Liu, Z., Xiang, J., Wang, Y., Song, B., Gu, X., et al. (2020) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30566-3 · Cited by 27,263 · see citing works
Richardson, S., Hirsch, J. S., Narasimhan, M., Crawford, J. M., McGinn, T., Davidson, K. W., and the Northwell COVID-19 Research Consortium, Barnaby, D. P., Becker, L. B., Chelico, J. D., et al. (2020) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2020.6775 · Cited by 9,254 · see citing works
Ruan, Q., Yang, K., Wang, W., Jiang, L., & Song, J. (2020) · Intensive Care Medicine · doi:10.1007/s00134-020-05991-x · Cited by 4,898 · see citing works
Clinical and immunological features of severe and moderate coronavirus disease 2019
Chen, G., Wu, D., Guo, W., Cao, Y., Huang, D., Wang, H., Wang, T., Zhang, X., Chen, H., Yu, H., et al. (2020) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci137244 · Cited by 4,750 · see citing works
Fleischner Society: Glossary of Terms for Thoracic Imaging
Hansell, D. M., Bankier, A. A., MacMahon, H., McLoud, T. C., Müller, N. L., & Rémy, J. (2008) · Radiology · doi:10.1148/radiol.2462070712 · Cited by 4,189 · see citing works
Simonnet, A., Chetboun, M., Poissy, J., Raverdy, V., Noulette, J., Duhamel, A., Labreuche, J., Mathieu, D., Pattou, F. N., Jourdain, M., et al. (2020) · Obesity · doi:10.1002/oby.22831 · Cited by 2,079 · see citing works
The effect of obesity on lung function
Dixon, A. E., & Peters, U. (2018) · Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine · doi:10.1080/17476348.2018.1506331 · Cited by 889 · see citing works
Palaiodimos, L., Kokkinidis, D. G., Li, W., Karamanis, D., Ognibene, J., Arora, S., Southern, W. N., & Mantzoros, C. S. (2020) · Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154262 · Cited by 864 · see citing works
Cariou, B., Hadjadj, S., Wargny, M., Pichelin, M., Al‐Salameh, A., Allix, I., Amadou, C., Arnault, G., Baudoux, F., Bauduceau, B., et al. (2020) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-020-05180-x · Cited by 820 · see citing works
Obesity Is a Risk Factor for Severe COVID-19 Infection
Sattar, N. A., McInnes, I. B., & McMurray, J. J. V. (2020) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/circulationaha.120.047659 · Cited by 706 · see citing works
Prevalence of obesity among adult inpatients with COVID-19 in France
Caussy, C., Pattou, F. N., Wallet, F., et al. (2020) · The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology · doi:10.1016/s2213-8587(20)30160-1 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
Obesity Impairs the Adaptive Immune Response to Influenza Virus
Green, W. D., & Beck, M. A. (2017) · Annals of the American Thoracic Society · doi:10.1513/annalsats.201706-447aw · Cited by 253 · see citing works
HDL in Infectious Diseases and Sepsis
Pirillo, A., Catapano, A. L., & Norata, G. D. (2014) · Handbook of experimental pharmacology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-09665-0_15 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Petersen, A., Bressem, K. K., Albrecht, J., Thieß, H.-M., Vahldiek, J. L., Hamm, B., Makowski, M. R., Niehues, A., Niehues, S. M., & Adams, L. C. (2020) · Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154317 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Watanabe, M., Caruso, D., Tuccinardi, D., Risi, R., Zerunian, M., Polici, M., Pucciarelli, F., Tarallo, M., Strigari, L., Manfrini, S., et al. (2020) · Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental · doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154319 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Hu, X., Chen, D., Wu, L., He, G., & Ye, W. (2020) · Clinica Chimica Acta · doi:10.1016/j.cca.2020.07.015 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Obesity and COVID‐19: An Italian Snapshot
Busetto, L., Bettini, S., Fabris, R., Serra, R., Prà, C. D., Maffei, P., Rossato, M., Fioretto, P., & Vettor, R. (2020) · Obesity · doi:10.1002/oby.22918 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Du, Y., Lv, Y., Zha, W., Zhou, N., & Hong, X.-Q. (2020) · Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental · doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154373 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Pathophysiology and Management of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Obese Patients
Umbrello, M., Fumagalli, J., Pesenti, A., & Chiumello, D. (2019) · Seminars in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine · doi:10.1055/s-0039-1685179 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Verdot, Deschamps, Salanave, & Torres (2017) · Bulletin Épidémiologique Hebdomadaire · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Obesity and Nutrition in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Stapleton, R. D., & Suratt, B. T. (2014) · Clinics in Chest Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ccm.2014.08.005 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mueller, J., Richards, R., Jones, R. A., Whittle, F., Woolston, J., Stubbings, M., Sharp, S. J., Griffin, S. J., Bostock, J., Hughes, C. A., et al. (2023) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/s41366-022-01232-x · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“In response to the need for remotely delivered support, we developed an ACT-based, guided self-help intervention (Supporting Weight Management during COVID-19, “SWiM-C”) to help adults with overweight and obesity manage their weight and eating behaviour, be more physically active, and protect their emotional wellbeing…”
BackgroundInfluentialRecent research advances in metabolism, clinical and experimental
Boutari, C., Kokkorakis, M., Stefanakis, K., Valenzuela-Vallejo, L., Axarloglou, E., Volčanšek, Š., Chakhtoura, M., & Mantzoros, C. S. (2023) · Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2023.155722 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
- Authors
- Pietri, L., Giorgi, R., Bégu, A., Lojou, M., Koubi, M., Cauchois, R., Grangeot, R., Dubois, N., Kaplanski, G., Valéro, R., & Béliard, S.
- Affiliations
- Inserm (FR)
- Hôpital de la Conception (FR)
- Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Béliard, Sophie
- Venue
- Metabolism
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-04
- Volume
- 117
- Pages
- 154703
- ISSN
- 0026-0495 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7834365
- OpenAlex
- W3120503333
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 2.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (am, 289 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- Metabolism (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL AMU (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, obesity, overweight, body mass index, disease severity, risk factors, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pneumonia, insulin resistance, comorbidities, intensive care unit admission, mortality
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Body Weight, Female, France, Hospitalization, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Prognosis, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, Comorbidity, Body Mass Index, Critical Illness, Overweight
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
