Association between Body Mass Index and the Severity of COVID-19 Among Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Document Type : Original Article

Author

The Departments of Community Health Sciences* and Biomedical Technology**, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: The Coronavirus (COVID-19), a highly con-tagious disease, has been officially classified as a global pan-demic by the World Health Organization. Notably, obesity has been identified as a significant risk factor for severe illness in COVID-19 patients. Aim of Study: This cross-sectional study determines the as-sociation between BMI classification and the severity of COV-ID-19 symptoms. Material and Methods: The study included 366 adults re-cruited from King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC). The data were collected from the informational systems of pa-tients on the hospital premises. Results: Sixty-nine percent of the participants had elevat-ed BMI, followed by normal BMI (29%) and low BMI (2%). The chi-square test showed a statistically significant relation (p=0.04) between BMI categories and the intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. These findings suggest that people with a higher BMI are more likely to have severe COVID-19 out-comes than people with a low or normal BMI. Conclusion: The findings of this study emphasize the im-portance of recognizing obesity as a significant health threat and a risk factor for communicable diseases to the public. Thus, practitioners should closely monitor obese patients to prevent severe and potentially lifethreatening outcomes.

Keywords

The Medical Journal of Cairo University
Volume 93, Issue 03
March 2025
Pages 145-152

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics