Association Between Diabetes and COVID-19: A Retrospective Observational Study With a Large Sample of 1,880 Cases in Leishenshan Hospital, Wuhan

Abstract

<b>Aims:</b> This study aimed to investigate the clinical courses and outcomes of diabetes mellitus patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan. <b>Methods:</b> This study enrolled 1,880 consecutive patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Leishenshan Hospital. We collected and analyzed their data, including demographic data, history of comorbidity, clinical symptoms, laboratory tests, chest computed tomography (CT) images, treatment options, and survival. <b>Results:</b> The percentages of patients with diabetes among the severe and critical COVID-19 cases were higher than those among the mild or general cases (89.2%, 10.8 vs. 0%, <i>p</i> = 0.001). However, patients with and without diabetes showed no difference in the follow-up period (<i>p</i> = 0.993). The mortality rate in patients with or without diabetes was 2.9% (<i>n</i> = 4) and 1.1% (<i>n</i> = 9), respectively (<i>p</i> = 0.114). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses and the Kaplan-Meier curves did not show any statistically significant differences between patients with and without diabetes (all <i>p</i> > 0.05). <b>Conclusions:</b> Our study results suggested that diabetes had no effect on the prognosis of COVID-19 patients but had a negative association with their clinical courses. These results may be useful for clinicians in the management of diabetic patients with COVID-19.