Diabetes might not be a risk factor for worse prognosis among hospitalized patients due to COVID-19 in a Mediterranean area

• Main Authors: Dotres, K. (Author), Masmiquel, L. (Author), Nicolau, J. (Author), Rodríguez, I. (Author), Romano, A. (Author), Sanchís, P. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: ARAN Ediciones S.L 2022
• Subjects: Albumin; complication; COVID-19; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; human; Humans; ICU; Mortality; non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus; Nutritional status; prognosis; Prognosis; Retrospective Studies; retrospective study; risk factor; Risk Factors; Type 2 diabetes
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Aim: type-2 diabetes (T2DM) seems to worsen the prognosis of patients admitted for COVID-19, although most studies included Asiatic patients. We aimed to assess whether this condition applies for Mediterranean patients. Methods: a total of 90 patients admitted for COVID-19 with T2DM were retrospectively compared with 50 patients without T2DM. Results: subjects with T2DM were older than their counterparts (73.3 ± 12.4 vs 53 ± 15.7 years; p < 0.0001). Either absolute lymphocyte count (1.1 ± 0.6 vs 1.3 ± 0.7 x 109/L; p = 0.005) or hemoglobin (11.9 ± 1.6 vs 13.1 ± 2.1 g/dL; p < 0.0001) were lower among subjects with T2DM. CRP and procalcitonin were higher among subjects with T2DM (91.9 ± 71.2 vs 70.1 ± 63.3 mg/L; p = 0.002 and 0.8 ± 0.3 vs 0.4 ± 0.1 ng/mL; p < 0.0001, respectively). Albumin was lower among patients with T2DM (3.4 ± 0.5 vs 3.8 ± 0.5 g/L: p < 0.001). Length of stay was longer among subjects with T2DM (11.7 ± 7.7 vs 9.7 ± 8.6 days; p = 0.01). However, both groups were comparable regarding both the proportion of subjects who were admitted to the ICU (16.5 % vs 8 %; p = 0.1) and mortality (11 % vs 4 %; p = 0.2). Conclusions: in a Mediterranean sample, despite of age, comorbidities, nutritional status, and inflammatory markers, subjects with T2DM with a proper glycemic control admitted for COVID-19 had similar prognostic outcomes than patients without this metabolic condition. © 2022 SENPE y Arán Ediciones S.L.