Pooled estimate of the association between obesity and COVID-19 outcomes in the general population (n=168)
| Exposure | Studies with single outcomes | Studies with combinations of outcomes* | Hospital admission+ICU+IMV† | |||
| Hospital admission | ICU | IMV | Death | |||
| BMI continuous (5 units) | ||||||
| Studies (n) | 2 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 5 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.22 (1.16 to 1.28) | 1.28 (1.00 to 1.61) | 1.34 (1.16 to 1.54) | 1.10 (1.05 to 1.16) | 1.34 (1.16 to 1.61) | 1.28 (1.00 to 1.47) |
| Overweight versus normal weight | ||||||
| Studies (n) | 7 | 10 | 12 | 21 | 8 | 21 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.22 (1.07 to 1.39) | 1.20 (1.01 to 1.43) | 1.22 (1.09 to 1.37) | 1.02 (0.92 to 1.13) | 1.18 (1.00 to 1.39) | 1.19 (1.12 to 1.28) |
| Obese versus normal weight | ||||||
| Studies (n) | 8 | 11 | 11 | 27 | 9 | 22 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.40 (1.20 to 1.62) | 2.08 (1.51 to 2.87) | 2.15 (1.68 to 2.76) | 1.23 (1.11 to 1.37) | 1.44 (1.26 to 1.64) | 1.73 (1.53 to 1.97) |
| Obese versus non-obese | ||||||
| Studies (n) | 12 | 22 | 13 | 50 | 12 | 36 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.67 (1.51 to 1.85) | 1.81 (1.55 to 2.12) | 1.65 (1.39 to 1.97) | 1.26 (1.19 to 1.34) | 1.93 (1.49 to 2.49) | 1.72 (1.60 to 1.85) |
| Extreme obese versus normal weight | ||||||
| Studies (n) | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 8 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.98 (1.76 to 2.23) | 1.81 (1.08 to 3.05) | 3.03 (1.92 to 4.77) | 1.94 (1.63 to 2.20) | 1.69 (1.42 to 2.01) | 2.08 (1.53 to 2.81) |
| Extreme obese versus non-obese | ||||||
| Studies (n) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 3.08 (1.60 to 5.92) | 3.95 (1.08 to 14.46) | 2.39 (1.96 to 2.91) | 2.37 (1.75 to 3.21) | 1.69 (1.31 to 2.19) | 3.19 (2.17 to 4.70) |
| Non-BMI-defined obesity‡ | ||||||
| Studies (n) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Pooled OR (95% CI) | 1.79 (1.00 to 3.21) | 1.27 (1.13 to 1.42) | 2.00 (1.32 to 3.02) | 1.58 (1.14 to 2.20) | 1.32 (1.16 to 1.49) | |
*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.
†Pooled studies included in hospital admission, ICU and IMV.
‡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.