Association between Body Mass Index and the Severity of COVID-19 Among Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. | ||||
| The Medical Journal of Cairo University | ||||
| Volume 93, Issue 03, March 2025, Page 145-152 PDF (181.09 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/mjcu.2025.422944 | ||||
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| Author | ||||
| NORA ALAFIF, Ph.D.*; WAAD ALFAWAZ, Ph.D.*; NOUF ALGHAMDI, Ph.D.*; TOURKIAH ALESSA, Ph.D.**; SHADEN ALMUTAIRI, M.Sc.*; BADRYH ALANAZI, M.Sc.* and MAHA ALQAHTANI, M.Sc.* | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| COVID-19; Obesity; BMI; ICU | ||||
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