OP03.04: Being born small for gestational age increases susceptibility to severe COVID‐19 in adulthood

Abstract

Small for gestational age (SGA) may have long-lasting consequences with increased susceptibility to adult disease. We hypothesised that adults born SGA are more susceptible to develop severe COVID-19. An observational prospective study including 397 patients between 20 to 70 years old with confirmed COVID-19 infection attended in a tertiary hospital in Barcelona between March and May 2020. Epidemiological and perinatal variables were obtained from all patients by telephone interviews and hospital registers. Patients were divided according to their birthweight: born small-for-gestational age (SGA, n = 65) defined by birthweight below the 10th centile versus non-SGA (n = 332). Baseline and clinical COVID-19 characteristics were compared among groups. Baseline variables including gender, body mass index, smoking status and previous comorbidities were similar among groups. Adult COVID-19 patients who were born SGA presented higher rates of severe disease and need for admission to Intensive Care Unit (23.1% vs 13.6%, p = 0.043) as compared to non-SGA individuals. SGA individuals had also a non-significant trend of pneumonia rates (80% vs 71%, p = 0.083). Being born SGA seems to increase susceptibility to severe COVID-19 infection in non-elderly adults, reinforcing the importance of early life in the predisposition to adult disease.