Outcomes and risk factors of death among hospitalized children and adolescents with obesity and COVID-19 in Brazil: An analysis of a nationwide database

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a well-recognized risk factor for critical illness and death among adult patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Objective: This study aimed to characterize the clinical outcomes and risk factors of death related to obesity in a cohort of hospitalized paediatric patients with COVID-19.

Methods: We performed an analysis of all paediatric patients with obesity and COVID-19 registered in SIVEP-Gripe, a Brazilian nationwide surveillance database, between February 2020 and May 2021. The primary outcome was time to death, which was evaluated by using cumulative incidence function.

Results: Among 21 591 hospitalized paediatric patients with COVID-19, 477 cases (2.2%) had obesity. Of them, 71 (14.9%) had a fatal outcome as compared with 7.5% for patients without obesity (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.59-2.53, p < 0.001). After adjustment, the factors associated with death among patients with obesity were female gender (HR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.70-4.61), oxygen saturation < 95% (HR = 2.58, 95% CI 1.38-4.79), presence of one (HR = 1.91, 95% CI 1.11-3.26), and two or more comorbidities (HR = 4.0, 95% CI 2.21-7.56).

Conclusions: Children and adolescents with obesity had higher risk of death compared with those without obesity. The higher risk of death was associated with female gender, low oxygen saturation at admission, and presence of other comorbidities.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; children; obesity; outcome; risk factors.