Association Between Bariatric Surgery and Severe COVID-19 Outcomes in Florida

Less is known whether bariatric surgery (BS) is associated with improved outcomes of COVID-19 complications among patients with class III obesity. Using data from the Florida’s state inpatient database (SID) in 2020, we performed multivariable logistic regressions to investigate the impact of prior BS on three separate events, including admission due to COVID-19 among patients eligible for BS (non-BS) and those with prior BS, ventilator usage, and all-cause mortality among those admitted due to COVID-19. Of 409,665 patients included in this study, 25,116 (6.1%) had a history of BS. Results from adjusted logistic regression showed that prior BS was associated with decreased risk of admission due to COVID-19 than that in non-BS group. The risk reduction was smaller among those with class III obesity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.51–0.66; p < 0.001) than those without (aOR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.28–0.38; p < 0.001). Compared with the non-BS group, aOR of ventilator use and all-cause mortality for patients without class III obesity decreased by 58% and 78% (p < 0.05), respectively. However, these significances disappeared among patients with continued class III obesity after BS. Our findings suggest that patients with continued class III obesity after BS were still at higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes than those without.