Polrat WilairatanaNoppadon TangpukdeeSrivicha KrudsoodNalinrat WilairatPichayapat WilairatPimjira ThebpatipatChulalongkorn UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Thammasat UniversityMahidol University2020-01-272020-01-272019-05-01Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. Vol.50, No.3 (2019), 421-427012515622-s2.0-85068918938https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/51688© 2019, SEAMEO TROPMED Network. All rights reserved. We conducted the study to determine if body mass index (BMI) could have any influence on severity of falciparum malaria. Severe (n = 196) (defined following World Health Organization criteria of 2015) and uncomplicated (n = 380) falciparum malaria patients were enrolled. Based on BMI criteria, the severe malaria group comprised 17% underweight, 70% normal weight, 9% overweight, and 4% obese patients, while in the uncomplicated malaria group the patients constituted 22%, 73%, 3%, and 2%, respectively. In both severe and uncomplicated malaria groups, significantly lower circulating parasite density and creatinine level were present in obese compared to patients in other BMI categories (p<0.05). Thus, obesity might be an indicator of reduced severity in falciparum malaria.Mahidol UniversityMedicineArticleSCOPUS