COVID-19 and diabetes: a deadly duo?
, 2, 3
Abstract
Introduction: Among the patients with severe or fatal COVID-19 a high prevalence of comorbidities is
noted, diabetes being one of them. The objective of the study was to analyse the relation of COVID-19
and diabetes in respect of their influence on hospitalization’s length and outcome.
Materials and methods: The data acquired from the database of Antoni Jurasz University Hospital No.
1 in Bydgoszcz were analysed. The analysis included 1,051 adult COVID-19 positive patients that were
hospitalized between March 14, 2020, and April 12, 2021. The collected data included a history of diabetes
with differentiation between type 1 and type 2, hospitalization outcome (discharge or death), length
of hospital stay.
Results: The prevalence of diabetes in the study group was determined to be 2.09% and 10.18% for
diabetes type 1 and 2, respectively, totalling 12.27% (n = 129). Most of the patients (87.54%) have been
discharged while 12.46% have died. The diabetic patients accounted for 11.63% of the discharges and
16.79% of deaths. The mortality rates in the group of insulin-dependent diabetes were the highest, namely
27.27% vs. 12.15% in the reaming study population (p = 0.0720). Hospitalization’s length did not differ
according to diabetes occurrence as on average it amounted to 15.90 days in diabetic patients and 14.44
days in non-diabetic ones.
Conclusions: COVID-19 and type 1 diabetes may constitute a deadly duo. Further studies that include
patients with insulin-dependent diabetes are needed to better understand the impact of diabetes and
COVID-19 on mortality and hospitalization’s length.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2coronavirusmortalitylength of stayinsulin-dependenttype 1 diabetestype 2 diabetes
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