Published online Oct 15, 2021. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v12.i10.1789
Peer-review started: April 27, 2021
First decision: May 12, 2021
Revised: May 25, 2021
Accepted: September 14, 2021
Article in press: September 14, 2021
Published online: October 15, 2021
Processing time: 169 Days and 3.1 Hours
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become an ongoing pandemic and has caused considerable mortality worldwide. Previous studies have demonstrated that patients with diabetes have a higher risk of mortality from COVID-19, as well as a greater risk of developing more severe cases.
Diabetes was a risk factor for the progression and prognosis of COVID-19, however, the effects of diabetes or anti-diabetic medication on the mortality of COVID-19 have not been well described.
We aim to investigate the outcome of different statuses (with or without comorbidity) and anti-diabetic medication use before admission of diabetic after COVID-19.
The clinical characteristics of 1422 consecutive hospitalized patients were collected. The statistical analyses were conducted with SPSS (version 25.0).
The overall survival rate was significantly lower in the diabetes group (log-rank P < 0.01), but the results for all-cause mortality were similar in the non-comorbidity group and diabetes only group (log-rank P = 0.59). Male sex [hazard ratio (HR) 2.59, P < 0.001], hypertension (HR 1.75, P = 0.006), chronic kidney disease (CKD) (HR 4.55, P < 0.001), cerebrovascular disease (CVD) (HR 2.35, P = 0.006), and age were independent risk factors for the COVID-19 mortality in multivariable Cox regression. However, diabetes alone was not an independent risk factor for mortality in patients with COVID-19.
Although diabetes is associated with a higher risk of mortality in patients with COVID-19, the outcome was not related to diabetes itself. Age, hypertension, CKD and CVD were the independent risk factor of mortality.
The present study calls more attention to the impact of older age and comorbid chronic disease, such as hypertension, CKD and CVD on disease progression among diabetic patients with COVID-19.