Association Between Obesity and COVID-19 Disease Severity in Saudi Population

Fulwah Yahya Alqahtani,1 Fadilah Sfouq Aleanizy,1 Rania Ali El Hadi Mohamed,2,3 Nassr Al-Maflehi,4 Bahauddeen M Alrfaei,5 Thamer A Almangour,6 Nora Alkhudair,6 Ghada Bawazeer,6 Ghalia Shamlan,7 Marzouqah S Alanazi8 1Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Federal Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan; 4Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Cellular Therapy and Cancer Research, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Human Nutrition, College of Food Science and Agriculture, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11362, Saudi Arabia; 8Emergency Medicine Consultant, Emergency Department, Prince Mohamed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Fulwah Yahya Alqahtani, Email fyalqahtani@ksu.edu.saBackground: The persistent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has placed a significant burden on the scientific and medical professions. The study examined the association between body mass index (BMI), stratified by category, and severe form of COVID-19, and to explore the influence of demographic characteristics and other known risk factors.Methods: This was a retrospective analysis based on COVID-19 data from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health. Data were collected for all patients admitted to three main hospitals in Riyadh region between March 1st and July 30, 2020. The effects of BMI, demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, and comorbidities on infection severity were investigated.Results: A total of 950 patients were included in the study (70% mal