A Correlation Analysis between the Nutritional Status and Prognosis of COVID-19 Patients

The present study investigated the correlation between the nutritional status and prognosis of COVID-19 patients, and analyzed the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 patients with different nutritional status.

429 patients who were diagnosed positive for COVID-19 in Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from December 2019 to March 2020 were selected and divided into different groups based on Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score (0-4: the low CONUT score group; 5-12: the high CONUT score group). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to investigate the effects of CONUT score on prognosis.

The total score of admission status of patients with higher CONUT score was higher than that of those with lower CONUT score (χ2 = 7.152, P = 0.007). The number of adverse outcomes of female was higher than that of male (χ2 = 10.253, P = 0.001). The number of adverse outcomes was higher for patients with smoking history (P = 0.004) or hypertension (χ2 = 11.240, P = 0.001) than those without. Also, the number of adverse outcomes was higher for older patients than younger ones (χ2 = 15.681, P < 0.001). Patients with adverse outcomes had lower urine red blood cell count than patients without adverse outcomes (χ2 = 5.029, P = 0.025). However, BMI, drinking history and diabetes did not show correlation with the prognosis of COVID-19 (P > 0.05).Among patients ≥ 61 years old, the risk of adverse outcomes in the high CONUT score group was 6.191 times that of the low CONUT score group (OR = 6.191, 95% CI: 1.431-26.785).Among the non-diabetic patients, the risk of adverse outcomes in the high CONUT group was 11.678 times that of the low CONUT group (OR = 11.678, 95% CI: 2.754-49.41).For the patients who had a total score of admission status < 6, the risk of adverse outcomes in the high CONUT score group was 8.216 times that of the low CONUT score group (OR = 8.216, 95% CI: 2.439-27.682).

COVID-19 patients with good nutritional status showed a small chance to have adverse outcomes. Gender, age, hypertension, the number of urine red blood cell count and CONUT score affected the adverse outcomes of patients.