Association between Body Mass Index and the Severity of COVID-19 Among Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background: The Coronavirus (COVID-19), a highly con-tagious disease, has been officially classified as a global pan-demic by the World Health Organization. Notably, obesity has been identified as a significant risk factor for severe illness in COVID-19 patients. Aim of Study: This cross-sectional study determines the as-sociation between BMI classification and the severity of COV-ID-19 symptoms. Material and Methods: The study included 366 adults re-cruited from King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC). The data were collected from the informational systems of pa-tients on the hospital premises. Results: Sixty-nine percent of the participants had elevat-ed BMI, followed by normal BMI (29%) and low BMI (2%). The chi-square test showed a statistically significant relation (p=0.04) between BMI categories and the intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. These findings suggest that people with a higher BMI are more likely to have severe COVID-19 out-comes than people with a low or normal BMI. Conclusion: The findings of this study emphasize the im-portance of recognizing obesity as a significant health threat and a risk factor for communicable diseases to the public. Thus, practitioners should closely monitor obese patients to prevent severe and potentially lifethreatening outcomes.