Study: Weight loss achieved through metabolic surgery associated with less severe COVID-19

Editor's Note

In a study published by JAMA Surgery in December 2021, the association between weight loss resulting from a metabolic surgical procedure performed pre-pandemic and less severe COVID-19 infection was analyzed in patients with obesity.

Patients who underwent a procedure pre-pandemic, lost weight, and then contracted COVID-19 saw better outcomes than no-procedure obese patients. The metabolic surgery patients weighed an average of 44 lb (20 kg) less than the nonsurgical patients at the time of infection.

The study was an analysis of electronic health record data from 2,958 patients “who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy between 2004 and 2017 at the Cleveland Clinic Health System” and 8,851 nonsurgical patients with obesity, all of whom were assessed between March 2020 and March 2021 to measure COVID-19 infection rates in both groups and outcomes in those infected.

The metabolic surgery group had a:

• 49% lower risk of hospitalization
• 63% lower risk of needing supplemental oxygen
• 60% lower risk of developing severe COVID-19.

“The association between weight loss and improved outcomes suggests that obesity can be a modifiable risk factor for severe COVID-19,” the authors concluded.