Trajectories of BMI Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Participants in the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: INTRODUCTION: Obesity is increasing across the United States, with people with HIV experiencing greater risk of obesity-related adverse health outcomes including metabolic diseases. Weight gain has been shown during the widespread shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined weight trajectories before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic among people with and without HIV. SETTING: Participants in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study-Women's Interagency HIV Study Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS). METHODS: Study time periods were (1) prepandemic period, May 15, 2018 through March 15, 2020; (2) pandemic period, March 15, 2020 through September 30, 2021; and (3) postpandemic period, October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2024. A piecewise linear mixed effects regression model adjusted for baseline age was fitted with a random intercept for individual. Interaction terms examined differences by sociodemographic characteristics. RESULT: Among 1586 participants, 66.5% were living with HIV. From the pre- to during-pandemic period, there was a statistically significant 0.14 kg/m 2 /visit increase in BMI (95% CI: 0.07 to 0.22). There was a 0.3 kg/m 2 reduction in mean BMI in the 36 months from pandemic [32 kg/m 2 (SD: 8.6)] to postpandemic [31.7 kg/m 2 (SD: 8.5)] periods. Similar trajectories were noted among sociodemographically vulnerable subgroups. DISCUSSION: Contrary to our hypothesis, we observed a downward BMI trajectory back to baseline with the exception of those with residential instability in the post-COVID-19 pandemic period after a statistically significant weight gain during the pandemic. Understanding factors associated with decreasing BMI trajectories in the postpandemic period is important in continuing to address the obesity epidemic in the United States.
Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Emory University, University of California, San Francisco, University of Pittsburgh, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of Miami, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Northwestern University, Georgetown University, Rush University Medical Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: Translational Biomedical Science Training Grant, Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS), G4584438095, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of Miami Developmental HIV/AIDS Mental Health Research Center (D-ARC), Institutional Career Development Core, Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, University of Pittsburgh MACS/WIHS CCS, MACS/WIHS -CCS, ERC Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY Center for AIDS research, SF Bay Area MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study, UNC MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study Clinical Research Site, Surviving the HIV Epidemic (S/HE) in metropolitan Washington DC - Advancing knowledge through cohort studies, Center for AIDS Research at Emory University, Northwestern CORE Clinical Research Site: Trans-omics for HIV/AIDS Research, Los Angeles CRS for the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study, Data Analysis and Coordination Center for the MACS-WIHS Combined Cohort Study, MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study: Cook County Clinical Research Site (CC_CRS), The University of North Carolina Center for AIDS Research, MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study: Brooklyn Clinical Research Site (Bklyn CRS), Clinical Research Sites for the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study (MACS/WIHS-CCS) - Baltimore/Wash DC Center, Atlanta MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study Clinical Research Site, UAB-MISS MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study, Miami Center for AIDS Research, UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Clinical Research Sites for the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study (MACS/WIHS-CCS), UAB Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
OpenAlex ID: W4414994937