Obesity and Mortality of Hospitalized COVID‑19 Patients in Asian and Western Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis

The authorities recently emphasized the importance of dietary control for COVID‑19 patients in hospitals. However, there is limited detail about the obesity and death of COVID‑19 patients who are hospitalized in the Asian and Western countries. The aim of this study was to find the role of obesity and mortality of the hospitalized COVID‑19 patients. A systematic review of the studies on obesity and mortality of hospitalized COVID‑19 patients in the Asian and western countries.

Databases of ProQuest, PubMed, and EBSCO were used to find relevant articles published between January 2020 and March 2021. A total of 3,70,836 patients in 17 studies were included.

We found significant correlation between obesity and mortality in hospitalized COVID‑19 patients (pooled odds ratio [POR] = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.23– 1.33). In particular, this study demonstrated that the Asian countries had higher POR (1.44, 95% CI: 1.16–1.79) compared to the western countries (1.28, 95%CI: 1.23‑1.33). The heterogeneity calculation showed heterogenous among studies included (I2 > 50%).

The mortality of COVID‑19‑hospitalized patients is related to obesity, which requires a multi‑stakeholder mitigation approach to avoid and control obesity and its impacts.