Relationship between hyperglycemia, waist circumference, and the course of COVID-19: Mortality risk assessment

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Internal Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• COVID-19 poses significant mortality risks, particularly for hospitalized adult patients.
• Understanding independent risk factors is crucial for effective patient management and prognosis.
• Previous studies have identified various comorbidities, but the independent role of specific anthropometric measures requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine independent mortality risk factors among adult inpatients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ukraine.
• To evaluate the association between waist circumference, diabetes mellitus/hyperglycemia, and other demographic/clinical factors with COVID-19 mortality.

Main Methods:

• An observational study involving 367 adult inpatients with COVID-19.
• Logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the impact of various factors on mortality.
• Waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose, age, gender, BMI-defined obesity, and hypertension were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Waist circumference (>105 cm) was strongly associated with increased mortality risk (OR 8.93, CI 3.26-24.5).
• Elevated fasting plasma glucose (>8.5 mmol/L) and older age (≥61 years) were also significant independent predictors of mortality.
• Diabetes mellitus/hyperglycemia showed an initial association (OR 2.5) but lost statistical significance after standardization.

Conclusions:

• Waist circumference is identified as an independent and significant risk factor for mortality in adult COVID-19 inpatients.
• Age and elevated fasting plasma glucose levels are also critical independent predictors of mortality.
• The findings underscore the importance of anthropometric measurements like waist circumference in assessing COVID-19 patient risk stratification.