ArticleBMC public health2021
COVID-19, body mass index and cholesterol: an ecological study using global data.
Article in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quantifying Health-Related Risk Factors Associated with Breast and Prostate Cancer Burden: The Role of Trends and Disparities in Obesity and Cholesterol.Iranian journal of public health · 2025Article
- Gender-specific differences in body mass index and cardiovascular risk adversely impact survival after aortic valve replacement.Cardiovascular diagnosis and therapy · 2025Article
- Associations between COVID-19 incidence, weight status, and social participation restrictions in the U.S.: evidence from the national population, cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Changes in Food Consumption, BMI, and Body Composition in Youth in the US during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Thought Believability and Anxious Feelings about COVID-19: A Case-Control Study in Northeastern Iran.Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · 2023Article
- Prerequisite for COVID-19 Prediction: A Review on Factors Affecting the Infection Rate.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- COVID-19, Non-Communicable Diseases, and Behavioral Factors in the Peruvian Population ≥ 15 Years: An Ecological Study during the First and Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Discrepancy between biomarkers of lung injury and 1-year mortality in COVID-19.European journal of clinical investigation · 2022Observational
- Analysis of Excess All-Cause Mortality and COVID-19 Mortality in Peru: Observational Study.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2022Article
- Regression Analysis for COVID-19 Infections and Deaths Based on Food Access and Health Issues.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to assess the impact of nonpharmaceutical interventions on the second wave of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic across the world.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Associations Between Gestational Weight Gain and Adverse Birth Outcomes: A Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study of 9 Million Mother-Infant Pairs.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Air quality index variation before and after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic: a comprehensive study on 87 capital, industrial and polluted cities of the world.Environmental sciences Europe · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now globally considered a serious economic, social and health threat. A wide range of health related factors including Body Mass Index (BMI) is reported to be associated with the disease. In the present study, we analyzed global databases to assess the correlation of BMI and cholesterol with the risk of COVID-19.
methodsIn this ecological study, we used age-standardized BMI and cholesterol levels as well as the incidence and mortality ratio of COVID-19 at the national-levels obtained from the publicly available databases such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). Bivariate correlation analysis was applied to assess the correlations between the study variables. Mean differences (standard deviation: SD) of BMI and cholesterol levels of different groups were tested using independent sample t-test or Mann-Whitney rank test as appropriate. Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to identify variables affecting the incidence and mortality ratio of COVID-19.
resultsIncidence and mortality ratio of COVID-19 were significantly higher in developed (29,639.85 ± 20,210.79 for cases and 503.24 ± 414.65 for deaths) rather than developing (8153.76 ± 11,626.36 for cases and 169.95 ± 265.78 for deaths) countries (P < 0.01). Results indicated that the correlations of BMI and cholesterol level with COVID-19 are stronger in countries with younger population. In general, the BMI and cholesterol level were positively correlated with COVID-19 incidence ratio (β = 2396.81 and β = 30,932.80, p < 0.01, respectively) and mortality ratio (β = 38.18 and β = 417.52, p < 0.05, respectively) after adjusting for socioeconomic and demographic factors.
conclusionCountries with higher BMI or cholesterol at aggregate levels had a higher ratios of COVID-19 incidence and mortality. The aggregated level of cholesterol and BMI are important risk factors for COVID-19 major outcomes, especially in developing countries with younger populations. We recommend monitoring and promotion of health indicices to better prevent morbidity and mortality of COVID-19.
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