In a new study, researchers found obesity is linked to an increased risk for intubation or death among hospitalized adults with COVID-19.
But the association is strongest in adults younger than 65 years but not in older adults.
The research was conducted by a team at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and elsewhere.
The team examined whether obesity is linked to intubation or death, inflammation, cardiac injury, or fibrinolysis in COVID-19 in a retrospective cohort study.
Data were included from 2,466 adults hospitalized with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections during a 45-day period.
The researchers found that 22% of patients were intubated, 25% died, and 2% remained hospitalized during a median hospital length of stay of seven days.
Patients with obesity had an increased risk for intubation or death compared with overweight patients, with the risk highest for class 3 obesity.
The association was mainly seen for patients aged younger than 65 years and not in older patients.
There was no association noted for body mass index with admission levels of biomarkers of inflammation, cardiac injury, or fibrinolysis.
The team says more work should examine potential mechanisms linking obesity and respiratory failure in COVID-19, including the role of specific inflammatory cytokines, complement-mediated endothelial cell dysfunction and thrombosis, and chest wall mechanics.
One author of the study is Michaela R. Anderson, M.D.
The study is published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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