Characterization and Outcomes in Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection According to Body Mass Index, Fundación Valle Del Lili, Cali, Colombia 2020-2021

Abstract Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 has undergone an accelerated expansion and was declared a pandemic in 2020. It has been responsible of millions of deaths around the world. Several factors related to severity and mortality have been described, including obesity(1,2). In United States and in Latin America, obesity has grown rapidly (3). In Colombia, 56% of the population is overweight/obese. However, in the region, association studies of SARS-CoV-2 and obesity are scarce. We sought to investigate the characterization and outcomes of patients according to body mass index in a highly complex center in Colombia.Material and Methods: The study was a prospective longitudinal observational descriptive study in patients older than 18 years treated at the Fundación Valle del Lili University Hospital in Cali, Colombia in 2020-2021, with a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, clinical presentation, paraclinical characteristics and outcomes were described. Results: The average age was 48 years, 53% were men, and 66.5% were overweight or obese. Dyspnea (p = 0.003) was the most representative symptom in overweight/obesity. The severity of the disease (p = 0.02), days of stay in the ICU (p = 0.045), overall stay (p = 0.0037), and mechanical ventilation (p = 0) had relationships directly proportional to the increase in BMI (p = 0.022). Obese patients had a higher frequency of sepsis (P 0.003), need for vasopressor (P = 0.001), infectious complications (P = 0.011) and myocarditis (P = 0.03). There was no relationship with thrombotic complications.Conclusion. Overweight and obese patients have more severe symptoms of SARS-CoV-2, infectious complications, and requirements for invasive mechanical ventilation, general hospitalization and ICU stay than the normal weight population.