Pooled estimate of the association between obesity and COVID-19 outcomes in the general population by region (n=150)
| Exposure by region | Hospital admission+ICU+IMV* | Death | Studies with combinations of outcomes† | |||
| Studies (n) | Pooled OR (95% CI) | Studies (n) | Pooled OR (95% CI) | Studies (n) | Pooled OR (95% CI) | |
| BMI continuous (5 units) | ||||||
| Asian-Pacific | 0 | – | 1 | 4.32 (1.05 to 17.9) | 5 | 2.49 (1.76 to 3.44) |
| Europe | 3 | 1.28 (1.00 to 1.61) | 5 | 1.16 (1.00 to 1.28) | 3 | 1.22 (0.95 to 1.54) |
| North America | 1 | 1.28 (1.16 to 1.47) | 8 | 1.05 (0.95 to 1.16) | 2 | 1.10 (0.90 to 1.28) |
| Overweight | ||||||
| Asian-Pacific | 1 | 0.84 (0.46 to 1.55) | 1 | 0.53 (0.14, 2.00) | 3 | 1.16 (1.00 to 1.33) |
| Europe | 3 | 2.11 (1.28 to 3.46) | 6 | 1.14 (0.93 to 1.39) | 2 | 1.68 (0.78 to 3.65) |
| North America | 15 | 1.18 (1.10 to 1.25) | 14 | 1.00 (0.88 to 1.14) | 3 | 1.03 (0.82 to 1.29) |
| Obese | ||||||
| Asian-Pacific | 3 | 2.35 (1.17 to 1.56) | 5 | 1.73 (1.36 to 2.20) | 9 | 2.37 (1.60 to 3.53) |
| Europe | 14 | 2.64 (1.81 to 3.86) | 24 | 1.43 (1.14 to 1.79) | 5 | 1.42 (1.24 to 1.63) |
| North America | 34 | 1.52 (1.45 to 1.59) | 41 | 1.13 (1.04 to 1.22) | 6 | 1.38 (1.18 to 1.62) |
| Extreme obese | ||||||
| Asian-Pacific | 0 | – | 1 | 4.32 (1.37 to 13.61) | 0 | – |
| Europe | 2 | 4.08 (2.13 to 7.82) | 5 | 2.56 (2.11 to 3.11) | 1 | 2.30 (1.20 to 4.40) |
| North America | 9 | 2.25 (1.91 to 2.65) | 13 | 1.81 (1.57 to 2.08) | 3 | 1.66 (1.44 to 1.93) |
| Non-BMI-defined obesity‡ | ||||||
| Asian-Pacific | 0 | – | 0 | – | 1 | 2.47 (1.02 to 5.98) |
| Europe | 4 | 1.32 (1.16 to 1.49) | 0 | – | 3 | 1.63 (1.00 to 2.66) |
| North America | 0 | – | 1 | 2.00 (1.32 to 3.02) | 1 | 1.28 (0.92 to 1.79) |
*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.