Effect of Obesity among Hospitalized Cancer Patients with or without COVID-19 on a National Level

Abstract

Cancer and obesity are well-known prognostic factors in COVID-19. Our objective was to study the effect of obesity (and its severity) on the risk of intensive care unit (ICU) admission, severe complications, and in-hospital mortality, in a population of cancer patients hospitalized with or without COVID-19. All patients hospitalized in France for cancer from 1 March 2020 to 28 February 2022 were included from the French national administrative database. The effect of obesity was estimated in COVID-19 and in non-COVID-19 cancer patients using logistic and survival regressions, taking into account age, sex, comorbidities, and different types of cancer. Among the 992,899 cancer patients, we identified 53,090 patients with COVID-19 (5.35%), of which 3260 were obese (6.1%). After adjustment, for patients with or without COVID-19, there is an increased risk of ICU admission or severe complications in obese patients, regardless of the type of obesity. Regarding in-hospital mortality, there is no excess risk associated with overall obesity. However, massive obesity appears to be associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality, with a significantly stronger effect in solid cancer patients without COVID-19 and a significantly stronger effect in hematological cancer patients with COVID-19. This study showed that in France, among hospitalized patients with cancer and with or without COVID-19, increased vigilance is needed for obese patients, both in epidemic and non-epidemic periods. This vigilance should be further strengthened in patients with massive obesity for whom the risk of in-hospital mortality is higher, particularly in epidemic periods for patients with hematological cancers.