Published 18 October 2021 at 13.22
Domestic. People with obesity were overrepresented among adults who were intensively cared for in Sweden for covid-19 during the pandemic's first wave. Obese individuals also had a greater risk of long-term care and death at IVA, a new study shows.
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Through the Swedish Intensive Care Registry (SIR), the researchers identified all patients with covid-19 who were intensively cared for during the pandemic's first wave, spring and summer 2020.
A total of 1,649 individuals with covid-19 were included from intensive care units at university hospitals, county hospitals and county hospitals around Sweden. All in the study were over 18 years old, three out of four were men, pregnant women were not included.
The results show that patients with obesity, ie a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more, were overrepresented among those with covid-19 in intensive care in Sweden. The proportion in the study was 39.4 percent. The corresponding figure for the population is about 16 percent.
High BMI increased the risk of both serious illness with long care periods, and deaths. BMI over 30 could be linked to a 50% increased risk of death, compared with the normal weight group. Among those who survived, a BMI over 35 could be linked to a doubled risk of care periods over 14 days, compared with those with normal weight. The analyzes have been adjusted for age, gender, comorbidity and how seriously ill the patient was on arrival at the intensive care unit.