Type 1 Diabetes and COVID-19: Preliminary Findings From a Multicenter Surveillance Study in the U.S.

Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that individuals with diabetes are at higher risk for severe illness with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and poorer health outcomes (1). Research suggests the underlying reason for an increased risk of COVID-19 complications in individuals with diabetes may be poor glycemic control or hyperglycemia (2). Information on clinical outcomes for patients with type 1 diabetes who have confirmed cases of COVID-19 is limited. To our knowledge, this is the first U.S.-based multicenter study that addresses these questions in a population with type 1 diabetes. This study aimed to examine patient characteristics and adverse outcomes among patients with type 1 diabetes with confirmed COVID-19. As a secondary objective, we investigated patient attributes and clinical outcomes in people with COVID-19–like symptoms for whom testing was unavailable or results were pending. The T1D Exchange Quality Improvement Collaborative (T1DX-QI) (3) is conducting this study in collaboration with an additional 49 endocrinology clinics (a total of 64 U.S. sites). The study was approved as exempt by a central review …