FRI043 The Double Pandemic Effect Of Obesity And COVID-19 Among United States Adult Hospitalizations: Outlining Hospitalization Outcomes Of A Synergistic Catastrophe
Authors: Shaka Hafeez , Ilelaboye Ayodeji , Krishnaraju Ellil , Dasgupta Mona , Shaka Abdultawab , Kanemo Philip 
Published: October 2023

Disclosure: H. Shaka: None. A. Ilelaboye: None. E. Krishnaraju: None. M. Dasgupta: None. A. Shaka: None. P. Kanemo: None.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated significant health disparities among adults in the US. Obesity has been on the rise in the US for decades and has been described as a pandemic. Morbid obesity (MO) is a known risk factor for worse outcomes for viral pneumonia including SARS-CoV-2. This study outlined the national impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ongoing obesity pandemic and assessed possible healthcare disparities in this population. Methods: The study obtained data from the US National Inpatient Sample from 2016 - 2020. This provides a nationally representative estimate of all US hospitalizations for each calendar year. We assessed rates of MO hospitalizations per 1000 adult hospitalizations yearly. We compared outcomes between 2019 and 2020 to evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on this population. Outcomes were also stratified by sex, race, and median household income. Results: From 2016 to 2020, hospitalizations involving adults with MO increased by 61%. While national hospitalizations dropped by about 9% in 2020, those involving adults with MO increased by 7.1% compared with 2019 adjusted for age, race, sex, and comorbidity index. In 2020, hospitalized adults with MO had a lower mean age and a higher proportion of men compared to 2019. There was no significant difference in the race, income and comorbidity index distribution of the patients in 2020 compared to 2019. Among adults with MO who died during hospitalization in 2020, about 1 in 5 had COVID-19 as the reason for admission. The mortality rate in all adults with MO increased from 1.5 to 2.7%. This represented an 84.5% higher odds of mortality compared to 2019. Stratification showed that there was an 80.0 vs 88.9% higher mortality in females vs males. Mortality in Hispanics increased by 169.7%, compared to 111.7% in Blacks and 66.8% in Whites. Patients in the lowest income quartile had an increase of 97.2 vs 61.7% in the highest income quartile. There were also significant regional variations in the increase in mortality among hospitalizations with MO. Year on year, total hospitalization charges in the studied population increased by $10 billion to over $156 billion, adjusted for inflation. The year 2020 also saw an overall increase in the length of hospitalizations for adults with MO. Discussion/conclusion: This study provides evidence that at the national level, patients with MO were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This contributed to significant healthcare costs. We recommend a national approach and response to the obesity pandemic as people with morbid obesity are projected to make up to 30% of the US population by 2030. We also highlighted significant racial and economic disparities in the outcomes of these patients. Although the reasons for such disparities are likely multifactorial, this adds to a growing body of evidence of disparities in healthcare across various health conditions.

Presentation: Friday, June 16, 2023