Association of obesity and the clinical course of hospitalised COVID‐19 survivors

Summary Obesity is a risk factor for chronic inflammation and severe pulmonary infections. This study aimed to assess the association between obesity and the clinical courses of hospitalised COVID‐19 survivors. This cross‐sectional study used the Isfahan COVID Cohort (ICC) baseline data. The ICC is an ongoing, 5‐year prospective, longitudinal cohort study conducted on hospitalised COVID‐19 survivors in affiliated hospitals of the Medical University of Isfahan (MUI), Iran. Patients aged 19 and over throughout Isfahan County were recruited using a consecutive sampling method 1 month after discharge. Demographic and basic characteristics, symptoms and clinical features of these patients were collected and analysed. A total of 3843 hospitalised patients with COVID‐19 were included in this study. Regarding the body mass index classification in the general obesity group, the patients with overweight and obesity had more extended hospitalisation and a higher frequency of low O2 saturation compared to the normal weight patients, and the highest frequency of low O2 saturation and more extended hospitalisation was observed in patients with obesity (5.9 ± 3.8 vs. 6.8 ± 5.4 vs. 7.1 ± 5.3, respectively; p = .001 and 59% vs. 64.5% vs. 65.5%; p