ArticleJCSM rapid communications
Sarcopenic obesity and the risk of hospitalization or death from coronavirus disease 2019: findings from UK Biobank.
Article in JCSM rapid communications. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of exercise in older adults with osteosarcopenic adiposity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Pooled it
- 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
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outcomes in patients with sarcopenia: A meta-analysis and meta-regression.Clinical nutrition ESPEN · 2022Pooled it
- Prevalence of Sarcopenia in Patients With COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- The Prevalence and Predictive Risk Factors of Metabolic Syndrome Based on Health-Related Fitness Components in Omani Adolescents with Obesity.Iranian journal of public health · 2025Article
- The Individual and Joint Associations of Sarcopenic Obesity and Malnutrition on Predicting the Severity of Acute Pancreatitis.International journal of general medicine · 2025Article
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- Precision MRI phenotyping of muscle volume and quality at a population scale.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Article
- Sarcopenic Obesity: Involvement of Oxidative Stress and Beneficial Role of Antioxidant Flavonoids.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Letter to Editor: Association of body mass index with COVID-19 related in-hospital death.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2022Article
- Prevalence of Sarcopenic Obesity in Various Comorbidities, Diagnostic Markers, and Therapeutic Approaches: A Review.Annals of geriatric medicine and research · 2022Article
- Frailty and risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 infection among older adults: evidence from the Dutch Lifelines COVID-19 Cohort study.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2022Article
- Associations of Dynapenic Obesity and Sarcopenic Obesity with the Risk of Complications in COVID-19.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Influence of Nutritional Status and Physical Exercise on Immune Response in Metabolic Syndrome.Nutrients · 2022Review
- Poor Nutritional Status and Dynapenia Are Highly Prevalent in Post-Acute COVID-19.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- High grip strength attenuates risk of severe COVID-19 in males but not females with obesity: A short communication of prospective findings from UK Biobank.Obesity research & clinical practiceArticle
- Sarcopenic obesity and the risk of hospitalization or death from coronavirus disease 2019: findings from UK Biobank.JCSM rapid communicationsArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The role of skeletal muscle mass in modulating immune response is well documented. Whilst obesity is well established as a key factor in COVID-19 and outcome, no study has examined the influence of both sarcopenia (low muscle mass) and obesity, termed 'sarcopenic obesity' on the risk of severe COVID-19. Methods: This study uses data from UK Biobank. Probable sarcopenia was defined as low handgrip strength. Sarcopenic obesity was mutually exclusively defined as the presence of obesity and low muscle mass [based on two established criteria: appendicular lean mass (ALM) adjusted for either (i) height or (ii) body mass index]. Severe COVID-19 was defined by a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 test result in a hospital setting and/or death with a primary cause reported as COVID-19. Fully adjusted logistic regression models were used to analyse the associations between sarcopenic status and severe COVID-19. This work was conducted under UK Biobank Application Number 52553. Results: We analysed data from 490 301 UK Biobank participants (median age 70.0 years, 46% male); 2203 (0.4%) had severe COVID-19. Individuals with probable sarcopenia were 64% more likely to have had severe COVID-19 (odds ratio 1.638; Conclusions: Sarcopenic obesity may increase the risk of severe COVID-19, over that of obesity alone. The mechanisms for this are complex but could be a result of a reduction in respiratory functioning, immune response, and ability to respond to metabolic stress.
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