Associations of Diabetes, Hypertension and Obesity with COVID-19 Mortality: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Introduction: Despite a growing body of scholarly research on the risks of severe COVID-19 associated with diabetes, hypertension and obesity, there is a need for estimating pooled risk estimates with adjustment for confounding effects. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the pooled adjusted risk ratios of diabetes, hypertension and obesity on COVID-19 mortality.

Methods: We searched 16 literature databases for original studies published between 1 December 2019 and 31 December 2020. We used the adapted Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to assess the risk of bias. Pooled risk ratios were estimated based on the adjusted effect sizes. We applied random-effects meta-analysis to account for the uncertainty in residual heterogeneity. We used contour-funnel plots and Egger's test to assess possible publication bias.

Results: We reviewed 34 830 records identified in literature search, of which 145 original studies were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled adjusted risk ratios were 1.43 (95% CI 1.32 to 1.54), 1.19 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.30) and 1.39 (95% CI 1.27 to 1.52) for diabetes, hypertension and obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m) on COVID-19 mortality, respectively. The pooled adjusted risk ratios appeared to be stronger in studies conducted before April 2020, Western Pacific Region, low- and middle-income countries, and countries with low Global Health Security Index scores, when compared with their counterparts.

Conclusions: Diabetes, hypertension and obesity were associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 mortality independent of other known risk factors, particularly in low-resource settings. Addressing these chronic diseases could be important for global pandemic preparedness and mortality prevention.

Prospero Registration Number: CRD42021204371.