Research

Mixed

Cardiometabolic conditions (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart failure) are major independent risk factors for severe COVID-19 outcomes, with obesity being the leading contributor to hospitalizations.

Maintaining healthy blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight is not just about long-term heart health; it is a critical defense against severe respiratory infections. If you have cardiometabolic conditions, proactive management (diet, activity, medication adherence) directly reduces your risk of hospitalization if you contract COVID-19.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Among >900,000 US coronavirus disease 2019 hospitalizations through November 18, 2020, nearly two thirds (63.5%) were estimated to be attributable to these cardiometabolic conditions... Top risks were obesity (30.2%), hypertension (26.2%), and diabetes mellitus (20.5%).
Meghan O’Hearn et al. · Journal of the American Heart Association · 2021

Why this rating

Uses a robust comparative risk assessment framework with nationally representative data and multivariable adjustments, though it is a modeling study rather than a randomized trial.

Source

Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalizations Attributable to Cardiometabolic Conditions in the United States: A Comparative Risk Assessment Analysis

Meghan O’Hearn et al. · Journal of the American Heart Association · 2021

DOI 10.1161/jaha.120.019259

cohort · n=906849Cited 177×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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