Clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 infected diabetic patients admitted in ICUs of the southern region of Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Diabetes mellitus is highly prevalent among critical cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with poor outcomes. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with diabetes, admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the southern region of Bangladesh.

METHODS

Epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, treatments, complications, and clinical outcomes data were extracted from electronic medical records of 168 COVID-19 patients admitted into ICU of two COVID-19 dedicated hospitals of Chattogram, Bangladesh and compared between diabetes (n = 88) and non-diabetes (n = 80) groups.

RESULTS

The prevalence of diabetes was high among 51-70 years old patients. All the diabetic patients had at least one other comorbidity, with a significantly higher incidence of hypertension (53.4% vs 27.5%, P < 0.05). Prevalence of male patients (74/88; 84.1%) was slightly higher among diabetic patients than the non-diabetic patients (60/80; 75%). Even though not significant, Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that COVID-19 patients with diabetes had a shorter overall survival time than those without diabetes. In subgroup analysis, diabetic patients were classified into insulin-requiring and non-insulin-requiring groups based on their requirement of insulin during the stay in ICU. COVID-19 infected diabetic patients requiring insulin have high risk of disease progression and shorter survival time than the non-insulin required group.

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetes is an independent risk factor for the poor prognosis of COVID-19. More attention should be paid to the prevention and prompt treatment of diabetic patients, to maintain good glycaemic control especially those who require insulin therapy.