Researchers from the Cancer Molecular Genetics Laboratory (Gemoca) at the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp, in collaboration with other Brazilian Universities and Research Centers, investigated a possible association between body weight and prognosis among patients diagnosed with Covid-19 . The results generated the article Body mass index and prognosis of Covid-19 infection: A systematic review. The article has just been published in the international magazine Frontiers in Endocrinology.
The researchers carried out a systematic review in the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE, WHO - Global Literature on Coronavirus Disease, OpenGrey and Medrxiv databases. According to the researchers, most of the studies included showed some degree of association between higher body mass index (BMI) and worse clinical presentation and between obesity and the need for hospitalization. However, despite gathering data from more than 17 patients, the results were inconsistent about the impact of obesity on mortality.
“At the moment, there are already many articles relating obesity and BMI to the severity of Covid-19. But, when we started writing this article, in April 2020 and only now published, little or no studies were focused solely on obesity as an isolated prognostic factor. With the tool we used in our study, we showed that the published articles had moderate to critical risks of bias, which limited the reliability of the results. In our publication, we highlight the need for new studies with more appropriate designs”, explains Karina Colombera Peres, first author of the article.
The originality of the study lies in the way the researchers looked at the data."The methodology used, the systematic review, is a type of analysis that requires a thorough critical and systematic evaluation of the literature which, although laborious, provides higher-quality data. degree of medical evidence, says Lucas Leite Cunha, a doctor graduated from Unifesp and in Biology from Unicamp who completed his doctorate at FCM, under the guidance of professor Laura Sterian Ward, coordinator of Gemoca.
Studies published since the analysis carried out by the Unicamp group have shown that obese patients are generally affected by the most severe form of the disease and are at increased risk of needing hospital care such as admission to an intensive unit (ICU) and mechanical ventilation. However, Unicamp researchers point out, in times of pandemic, there is a flood of articles, some not even published yet, and not always adequately evaluated by traditional methods involving “peers”.
“We need to keep an analytical eye on the entire set of data published around the world, with patients spread across different countries and locations. We face an emergency situation in public health that makes it necessary to produce data quickly, but if we do not maintain scientific methodology in its interpretation, we will continue to see apologies for inadequate or useless treatments, spending money and placing hope in vaccines or medicines that could be very disappointing and , ultimately, could contribute to the greater discredit of science by the population desperate for a miraculous silver bullet”, comments Laura Ward, research advisor.
The study was carried out in partnership with researchers from Escola Paulista de Medicina, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Universidade Metropolitana de Santos, Centro Universitário São Camilo and Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp). The other authors of the article are Rachel Riera, Ana Luiza C. Martimbianco, Laura S. Ward and Lucas L. Cunha.
Read here the full article.
