Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40895384›Full record

ArticleGlobal health & medicine2025

Elevated risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes among underweight patients in Japan: A national registry-based study.

Yumi Matsushita, Tetsuji Yokoyama, Kayoko Hayakawa, Sho Saito, Nobuaki Matsunaga, Mari Terada, Setsuko Suzuki, Shinichiro Morioka, Satoshi Kutsuna, Hisao Hara and 2 more

Abstract readLetter
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Global health & medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Yumi MatsushitaOffice of Clinical Research and Education Promotion, Department of Clinical Research Management, Center for Clinical Sciences, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Tetsuji YokoyamaDepartment of Health Promotion, National Institute of Public Health, Tokyo, Japan.
Kayoko HayakawaDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Sho SaitoDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Nobuaki MatsunagaAMR Clinical Reference Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Mari TeradaDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Setsuko SuzukiDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Shinichiro MoriokaDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Satoshi KutsunaDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Hisao HaraDepartment of Cardiology, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Akio KimuraDepartment of Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.
Norio OhmagariDisease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security, Tokyo, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We conducted a study to determine the impact of body mass index (BMI) (underweight, normal weight, and overweight) on the severity of COVID-19 across different periods of variant predominance using a large-scale data registry of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Japan (COVIREGI-JP), involving 46,291 Japanese patients aged 20-89 years. Severity was classified based on the most intensive treatment received throughout the hospitalization. Multiple logistic models were used to assess the risk of severe disease, and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for BMI < 18.5, 18.5-20, and ≥ 25 relative to BMI of 20.1-24.9 were calculated by sex and age group. The risk of severe COVID-19 and death was high among those with BMI < 18.5 [OR (95% CI): 1.88 (1.52-2.33), 1.59 (1.22-2.07)] as well as those with BMI ≥ 25 [1.38 (1.20-1.60), 1.87 (1.50-2.34)] for both men and women, respectively. The risk was extremely high among those with BMI < 18.5 when the Omicron variant was predominant [2.41 (1.66-3.49) for men, 2.96 (1.77-4.97) for women]. An important point to note is that being underweight as well as obesity increased the risk of severe COVID-19 and death. More attention should be paid to underweight individuals when predicting COVID-19 risk.

Indexed as

BMICOVID-19infectious diseaseleanobesity

Identifiers

PMID40895384
PMCPMC12390770

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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.