Misleading statistics

[Ifeel1000yearsold]

So I just looked at a headline that said 70% of those admitted to ICU with Covid are overweight or obese. But looking at other data up to 69% of our country is overweight or obese so statistic means nothing really does it?

I suppose it means people that are overweight or obese are at the same risk then (or very slightly more if it's 70 vs 69)

Doesn't mean obese/overweight patients in icu have the same outcomes as those of a normal weight in icu though...

That's a good point ^ you'd need the stat on deaths rather than just admissions to know that.

www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-icnarc-report-on-the-first-reported-775-patients-critically-ill-with-covid-19/

As explained in this article following an audit done in ICU:

“In the last report there was a suggestion that the proportion of obese patients was greater than expected. This report shows the BMI/age distribution for the COVID-19 patients and the general population. The BMI distribution of the patients in ICU with COVID-19 matches the population, so it is not likely that obesity is linked to severe COVID-19 infection requiring an ICU admission.
“The numbers are small but there does appear to be an increased risk of death in obese patients admitted to an ICU with a COVID-19 infection. It is well known that for ICU admissions overall extremes of body mass index (BMI) are associated with worse outcomes, so whether this is a COVID-19 effect is hard to say.