Obesity and COVID-19 Severity in a Designated Hospital in Shenzhen, China

OBJECTIVE Patients with obesity are at increased risk of exacerbations from viral respiratory infections. However, the association of obesity with the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is unclear. We examined this association using data from the only referral hospital in Shenzhen, China. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 383 consecutively hospitalized patients with COVID-19 admitted from 11 January 2020 to 16 February 2020 and followed until 26 March 2020 at the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen were included. Underweight was defined as a BMI <18.5 kg/m2, normal weight as 18.5–23.9 kg/m2, overweight as 24.0–27.9 kg/m2, and obesity as ≥28 kg/m2. RESULTS Of the 383 patients, 53.1%…