Body Mass Index as a Predictor of Symptom Duration in COVID-19 Outpatients

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for various diseases and can affect the disease course. Studies have shown detrimental effects of obesity on patients affected with SARS-CoV-2 including increased hospitalization and more severe disease. This study aims to investigate the effects of obesity on symptom duration in patients with COVID-19, and also explore the possibility of using BMI as a predictor of symptom duration in outpatient settings. Methods: Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between June and October 2020, who had no other comorbidities, and were planned to receive treatment in the outpatient setting were enrolled in the study. Duration of the symptoms was determined based on participants' self-report of their symptoms. Linear regression was used to create predictive models based on participants' BMI, age, sex, disease presentation, and their self-reported symptom duration. Results: A total of 210 patients were included in the final analysis. Patients with higher BMI had significantly longer symptom duration. Linear regression models showed highest correlation between BMI and symptom duration compared to other covariates. Conclusion: Low error in predictions and high coverage of data variability showed BMI can be used as a predictive factor for symptom duration in COVID-19 patients treated in outpatient settings.