A real-world study has explored the association between changes in body mass index (BMI) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among adults.
Study
The scientists analyzed patients' real-world clinical and socio-demographic data, which was obtained from the OneFlorida and Clinical Research Network of the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network.
They compared the changes in BMI over a period of 100 days between an exposed cohort, a contemporary unexposed cohort, and an age- and sex-matched historical control cohort. The exposed cohort included adult individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between March 2020 and January 2022. The unexposed cohort included adults who always tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 during the same period. The historical control cohort included adults who utilized the healthcare systems in the pre-pandemic period (March 2018–January 2020).
The study included age- and sex-matched individuals from the pre-pandemic period to characterize the differences in patient population attributable to the pandemic.
They retrieved participants' BMI from objective measures of height and weight in electronic health records and explored the changes per 100 days of follow-up.
Findings
A total of 249,743 adult individuals were included in the study. Of them, 19.2% were exposed, 61.5% were unexposed, and 19.3% were from the pre-pandemic period. The average age of the participants was 51 years.
Nearly 50% of the study population belonged to minority race and ethnicity groups, including non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Other. The average BMI of participants was 29.5 kg/m2, with 30% and 40% being overweight and obese, respectively.
Conclusion
This real-world study finds that adult individuals with SARS-CoV-2 exposure have higher body weight at the start of the post-acute phase of COVID-19 compared to contemporary individuals who are not exposed to the virus, as well as age- and sex-matched individuals from the pre-pandemic period.
Over the 100 days of follow-up, BMI remained stable for exposed individuals, whereas unexposed and pre-pandemic control individuals experienced a reduction and an increase in BMI, respectively.
The observed associations between SARS-CoV-2 exposure and BMI changes were present among racial and ethnic minorities and young adults who were disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
The higher BMI observed among SARS-CoV-2-exposed individuals suggests that they may have been at a higher risk of severe COVID-19 when seeking care, consistent with previous findings that elevated BMI is a risk factor for severe COVID-19.
An overall induction in BMI and obesity prevalence has been observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This could be attributed to pandemic-related movement restrictions, a rise in sedentary time and unhealthy food habits, and disruption of preventive care.
Such bidirectional association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and cardiometabolic health conditions might be mediated by excess adiposity, insulin resistance, inflammation, or delayed recovery after COVID-19.
Further studies are required to understand the mechanisms driving this observed increase in weight retention after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Ongoing studies involving long-COVID patients should focus on BMI trajectories to more conclusively understand the causative association between SARS-CoV-2 exposure and weight retention in adult individuals.
Source:
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240916/SARS-CoV-2-exposure-stabilizes-BMI-in-infected-adults-while-others-see-shifts.aspx