• Sajjad Ali, Omar Sufyan Khan, Amira M Youssef, Iram Saba, Leena Alqahtani, Renad Abdulaziz Alduhaim, and Renad Almesned.
• From the Infectious Diseases Department, Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• Ann Saudi Med. 2024 Mar 1; 44 (2): 116125116-125.

BackgroundMultiple studies have demonstrated a correlation between a high body mass index and discriminatory COVID-19 outcomes. Studies appear to indicate that there is a correlation between obesity-related comorbidities and less favorable outcomes.ObjectivesThe primary aim of the current investigation is to conduct a thorough assessment of the correlation between BMI and comorbidities associated with obesity, and their potential impact on the severity and consequences of COVID-19 infection among patients receiving care in a tertiary healthcare setting.DesignRetrospective cohort.SettingsTertiary rehabilitation center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Patients And MethodsThe study included all individuals who received medical treatment and tested positive for COVID-19 by means of RT-PCR during the period from March to September 2020. COVID-19 patients were classified using Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS).Main Outcome MeasuresCOVID-19-related complications, including pneumonia and cytokine release syndrome, as well as the time length to COVID-19 negativization.Sample Size315 patients.ResultsThe median (25th-75th percentiles) age of the patients was 38 (31.5-49) years old. Males outnumbered females, and 66% of patients were non-Saudis. Forty-eight patients (15.2%) had obesity class I, whereas 13 patients (4.1%) had class II. Thirty-two patients (10.2%) were classified as EOSS stage 1, 105 patients (33.3%) were classified as EOSS stage 2, and 25 patients (7.9%) were assigned to EOSS stage 3. Males predominated in EOSS stages 1 and 2, whereas females predominated in stage 3. In EOSS stage 3, 52% of cases had moderate severity and 48% had severe illness.ConclusionsEOSS distinguishes the COVID-19 risks of poor outcomes beyond BMI. Patients who were overweight or obese but remained in the stage 1 of the EOSS had a lower risk of a poor COVID-19 outome than normal-weight patients. The health status of obese patients is a more precise indicator of the progression of COVID-19 during hospitalization than BMI alone.LimitationsGiven the limited capacity of urgent care facilities to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of comorbidities and other relevant outcomes in all patients, it is plausible that certain patients may have been erroneously classified with an EOSS stage 2 diagnosis, when in fact they ought to have been assigned a stage 3 diagnosis.

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