scholarly journals A systematic review and meta-analysis of obesity and COVID-19 outcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinya Zhang ◽  
Alexander M. Lewis ◽  
John R. Moley ◽  
Jonathan R. Brestoff

AbstractSome studies report that obesity is associated with more severe symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection and worse COVID-19 outcomes, however many other studies have not reproduced these findings. Therefore, it is uncertain whether obesity is in fact associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes compared to non-obese individuals. We conducted a systematic search of PubMed (including MEDLINE) and Google Scholar on May 18, 2020 to identify published studies on COVID-19 outcomes in non-obese and obese patients, covering studies published during the first 6 months of the pandemic. Meta-analyses with random effects modeling was used to determine unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for various COVID-19 outcomes in obese versus non-obese patients. By quantitative analyses of 22 studies from 7 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia, we found that obesity is associated with an increased likelihood of presenting with more severe COVID-19 symptoms (OR 3.03, 95% CI 1.45–6.28, P = 0.003; 4 studies, n = 974), developing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS; OR 2.89, 95% CI 1.14–7.34, P = 0.025; 2 studies, n = 96), requiring hospitalization (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.14–1.59, P < 0.001; 4 studies, n = 6611), being admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU; OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.15–1.65, P = 0.001; 9 studies, n = 5298), and undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV; OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.29–2.40, P < 0.001; 7 studies, n = 1558) compared to non-obese patients. However, obese patients had similar likelihoods of death from COVID-19 as non-obese patients (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.74–1.25, P = 0.750; 9 studies, n = 20,597). Collectively, these data from the first 6 months of the pandemic suggested that obesity is associated with a more severe COVID-19 disease course but may not be associated with increased mortality.

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 479
Author(s):  
Tatiana Sidiropoulou ◽  
Kalliopi Christodoulaki ◽  
Charalampos Siristatidis

A pre-procedural ultrasound of the lumbar spine is frequently used to facilitate neuraxial procedures. The aim of this review is to examine the evidence sustaining the utilization of pre-procedural neuraxial ultrasound compared to conventional methods. We perform a systematic review of randomized controlled trials with meta-analyses. We search the electronic databases Medline, Cochrane Central, Science Direct and Scopus up to 1 June 2019. We include trials comparing a pre-procedural lumbar spine ultrasound to a non-ultrasound-assisted method. The primary endpoints are technical failure rate, first-attempt success rate, number of needle redirections and procedure time. We retrieve 32 trials (3439 patients) comparing pre-procedural lumbar ultrasounds to palpations for neuraxial procedures in various clinical settings. Pre-procedural ultrasounds decrease the overall risk of technical failure (Risk Ratio (RR) 0.69 (99% CI, 0.43 to 1.10), p = 0.04) but not in obese and difficult spinal patients (RR 0.53, p = 0.06) and increase the first-attempt success rate (RR 1.5 (99% CI, 1.22 to 1.86), p < 0.0001, NNT = 5). In difficult spines and obese patients, the RR is 1.84 (99% CI, 1.44 to 2.3; p < 0.0001, NNT = 3). The number of needle redirections is lower with pre-procedural ultrasounds (SMD = −0.55 (99% CI, −0.81 to −0.29), p < 0.0001), as is the case in difficult spines and obese patients (SMD = −0.85 (99% CI, −1.08 to −0.61), p < 0.0001). No differences are observed in procedural times. Ιn conclusion, a pre-procedural ultrasound provides significant benefit in terms of technical failure, number of needle redirections and first attempt-success rate. Τhe effect of pre-procedural ultrasound scanning of the lumbar spine is more significant in a subgroup analysis of difficult spines and obese patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A Armstrong ◽  
Caroline Kane ◽  
Fiona Oglesby ◽  
Katie Barnard ◽  
Jasmeet Soar ◽  
...  

The incidence of cardiac arrest in the intensive care unit (ICU-CA) has not been widely reported. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting the incidence of cardiac arrest in adult, general intensive care units. The review was prospectively registered with PROSPERO (CRD42017079717). The search identified 7550 records, which included 20 relevant studies for qualitative analysis and 16 of these were included for quantitative analyses. The reported incidence of ICU-CA was 22.7 per 1000 admissions (95% CI: 17.4–29.6) with survival to hospital discharge of 17% (95% CI: 9.5–28.5%). We estimate that at least 5446 patients in the UK have a cardiac arrest after ICU admission. There are limited data and significant variation in the incidence of ICU-CA and efforts to synthesise these are limited by inconsistent reporting. Further prospective studies with standardised process and incidence measures are required to define this important patient group.


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