The Impact of Obesity and Diabetes on COVID-19 Severity

The seven human coronavirus, sever acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) had started a worldwide health pandemic that raised concern regarding its severe outcomes in the healthcare system and specifically for patients who are diagnosed with chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The purpose of the study was to assess the severity of COVID-19 in obese and diabetic hospitalized patients in National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA). Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done at King Abdulaziz Medical City, NGHA in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Data was collected from The BestCare system using a non-probability purposive which was done by including all patients applicable to our inclusion criteria. SPSS version 24 was used for data analysis. Results: The study included 5,257 patients that were with positive test results for COVID-19. Of all the patients, 2,499 (47.5%) males and 2,758 (52.5%) females were diagnosed. The majority (97.9%) of the patients were diabetic and more than half of the subjects (53.1%) in the sample were hypertensive. There was a strong association between ICU admission and chronic diseases and between death due to COVID-19 complications and: heart failure, renal disease, and obesity. Conclusion: There was a strong association between ICU admission and diabetes, heart failure, renal disease, and obesity. Moreover, there were a strong association between death due to COVID-19 complications and heart failure, renal disease, and obesity.