SynthesisClinical nutrition ESPEN2021
Visceral adiposity, subcutaneous adiposity, and severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19): Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Clinical nutrition ESPEN, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and clinical implications of abnormal body composition phenotypes in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Pooled it
- Association of epicardial adipose tissue with the severity and adverse clinical outcomes of COVID-19: A meta-analysis.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of colchicine on mortality in patients with COVID-19 - A systematic review and meta-analysis.Diabetes & metabolic syndrome · 2022Pooled it
- Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-IV) inhibitor was associated with mortality reduction in COVID-19 - A systematic review and meta-analysis.Primary care diabetes · 2022Pooled it
- Active prescription of low-dose aspirin during or prior to hospitalization and mortality in COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis of adjusted effect estimates.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- COVID-19 infection and body weight: A deleterious liaison in a J-curve relationship.Obesity research & clinical practicePooled it
- The Role of Epicardial and Visceral Fat in Severe Respiratory Infections: Associations With Adverse Outcomes.Clinical obesity · 2026Observational
- Association analysis of metabolic score for visceral fat with cardiovascular disease: a prospective cohort study based on the China health and retirement longitudinal study.Cardiovascular diagnosis and therapy · 2026Article
- Article
- Association of visceral fat and plasmacytoid dendritic cell-derived interferon alpha with SARS-CoV-2 infection.PloS one · 2026Article
- Beyond body mass index: exploring the role of visceral adipose tissue in intensive care unit outcomes.BJA open · 2025Review
- The effect of pre-existing sarcopenia on outcomes of critically ill patients treated for COVID-19.Journal of critical care medicine (Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie din Targu-Mures) · 2025Article
- Obesity Parameters as Predictor of Poor Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients with Confirmed Mild-to-Moderate COVID-19.Infectious disease reports · 2024Article
- Body fat predicts urinary tract infection in kidney transplant recipients: a prospective cohort study.Journal of nephrology · 2024Article
- Association of excess visceral fat and severe illness in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Japan: a retrospective cohort study.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2024Article
- Diabetes Mellitus, Energy Metabolism, and COVID-19.Endocrine reviews · 2024Review
- Subcutaneous adipose tissue measured by computed tomography could be an independent predictor for early outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Exploring the Network between Adipocytokines and Inflammatory Response in SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Scoping Review.Nutrients · 2023Article
- The liver-to-spleen ratio is a risk factor predicting oxygen demand in COVID-19 patients.Infectious medicine · 2023Article
- Low vitamin D levels predict outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with both severe and non-severe disease at hospitalization.Endocrine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsBody mass index (BMI) has previously been shown to increase mortality and disease severity in patients with COVID-19, but the pooled effect estimate was heterogeneous. Although BMI is widely used as an indicator, it cannot distinguish visceral from subcutaneous fat. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between visceral adiposity, subcutaneous fat, and severe COVID-19.
methodsWe performed a systematic literature search using the databases: PubMed, Embase, and EuropePMC. Data on visceral fat area (VTA), subcutaneous fat area (SFA), and total fat area (TFA) were collected. The outcome of interest was severe COVID-19. We used a REML random-effects model to pool the mean differences and odds ratio (OR).
resultsThere were 5 studies comprising of 539 patients. Patients with severe COVID-19 have a higher VTA (mean difference 41.7 cm
conclusionVisceral adiposity was associated with increased COVID-19 severity, while subcutaneous adiposity was not. PROSPERO ID: CRD42020215876.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.