Pooled estimate of the association between obesity and COVID-19 outcomes in restricted (by age, sex, race/ethnicity, disease or condition) populations (n=40)
| Exposure | Hospital admission+ICU+IMV* | Death | Studies with combinations of outcomes† |
| BMI continuous (5 units) | |||
| Studies (n) | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.16 (1.05 to 1.28) | 1.16 (1.05 to 1.34) | 1.69 (0.70 to 4.16) |
| Overweight versus normal weight | |||
| Studies (n) | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.03 (0.90 to 1.17) | 1.01 (0.88 to 1.16) | 1.51 (0.89 to 2.58) |
| Obese versus normal weight | |||
| Studies (n) | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.16 (0.92 to 1.45) | 1.03 (0.78 to 1.37) | 1.33 (0.99 to 1.80) |
| Obese versus non-obese | |||
| Studies (n) | 6 | 9 | 8 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.84 (1.43 to 2.37) | 1.88 (1.61 to 2.19) | 1.67 (1.29 to 2.15) |
| Extreme obese versus normal weight | |||
| Studies (n) | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.33 (0.98 to 1.79) | 1.40 (1.13 to 1.72) | 1.22 (0.67 to 2.21) |
| Extreme obese versus non-obese | |||
| Studies (n) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 4.10 (1.28 to 13.11) | ||
| Non-BMI-defined obesity‡ | |||
| Studies (n) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 10.71 (1.57 to 73.06) | 1.25 (0.98 to 1.59) |
*Pooled studies included in-hospital admission, ICU and IMV. The estimates for hospital admission, ICU and IMV were not shown separately because of low number of studies.
†Studies whose endpoint was the combination of two or more of the following: hospital admission, ICU, IMV, death or other conditions pertaining to a severe disease.
‡Non-BMI-defined obesity includes neck circumference, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and visceral adipose tissue.
BMI, body mass index; ICU, intensive care unit; IMV, invasive mechanical ventilation.