The effect of body indexes on presence of ocular symptoms in covid-19 patients

Babaei, Mansour; Shokri, Mehran; Rasoulinejad , Seyed Ahmad

Volume 80, Issue 7 (October 2022) Tehran Univ Med J 2022, 80(7): 523-531 | Back to browse issues page

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Babaei M, Shokri M, Rasoulinejad S A. The effect of body indexes on presence of ocular symptoms in covid-19 patients. Tehran Univ Med J 2022; 80 (7) :523-531
URL: http://tumj.tums.ac.ir/article-1-11960-en.html

The effect of body indexes on presence of ocular symptoms in covid-19 patients

Mansour Babaei¹

, Mehran Shokri²

, Seyed Ahmad Rasoulinejad ^*

1- Mobility Impairment Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.|Clinical Research Development Unite of Rouhani Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.| Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
2- Clinical Research Development Unite of Rouhani Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.|Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.| Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
3- Department of Ophthalmology, Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. , Rasolisa2@gmail.com

Abstract: (850 Views)

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the presence of ocular symptoms was common in COVID-19 patients, which can cause secondary complications in the treatment of ocular diseases. On the other hand, obesity can cause secondary symptoms in infectious diseases by impairing the function of the immune system, which indicates the relationship between involvement of different tissues and dysfunction of the cellular immune system. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between body indexes (i.e., age, height, weight, and BMI) and the presence of ocular symptoms in patients with COVID-19.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study (from March 2021 to May 2021), ocular symptoms (including blurred vision, epiphora, photophobia, discharge and exudate, redness, pain, and itching of the eyes) and body indexes (age, height, weight and BMI) were evaluated in 108 patients with COVID-19, who were referred to Ayatollah Rouhani hospital, Babol, Iran. The independent t-test and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were used to examine the data relationship in SPSS software.

Results: The results showed that the mean body weight in COVID-19 patients with blurred vision was significantly higher than COVID-19 patients without blurred vision (P=0.003, t=-3.056). The mean height of COVID-19 patients with epiphora was significantly lower than the mean height of COVID-19 patients without epiphora (P=0.018, t=2.398). Also, the BMI of COVID-19 patients with epiphora was 30.00 ±4.07 kg/m², while the BMI of COVID-19 patients without epiphora was 27.68±4.42 kg/m² (P=0.047, t=0.026). In COVID-19 patients with at least one ocular symptom, height was significantly lower than heigh of COVID-19 patients without any ocular symptoms (P=0.001, t=3.397).
Conclusion: Our results indicate the essential role of obesity in the occurrence of eye symptoms in COVID-19 patients. In this study, it was found that blurred vision, epiphora and the presence of at least one eye symptom in COVID-19 patients were significantly associated with the upward trend of BMI (as an index of obesity).

Keywords: blurred vision, body mass index, covid-19, epiphora, ocular symptoms

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Type of Study: Original Article | Subject: Endocrinology