Prevalence of new onset hyperglycemia/diabetes in hospitalized adults previously infected with COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus illness may exacerbate glycemia and lead to metabolic problems if it occurs in people who already have diabetes. Emerging data suggests that diabetes could develop during the course of coronavirus infection in individuals with no previous history of diabetes.

Aim: To study the prevalence of new-onset hyperglycemia/diabetes (nDM) in COVID-19 patients.

Methodology: A retrospective study was conducted in AL-Kindy Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from August 2021 to January 2022 on a convenient sample of 150 non-diabetic COVID-19 patients. The data was collected from the patient’s medical records. Collected data included demographic information about the patients, disease severity, laboratory findings, presence of comorbidity, and disease outcome. nDM was defined as developing hyperglycemia >200 mg on two occasions with no previous history of DM.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 54.81±14.8 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3:1. During the hospitalization period, 40 (26.7%) patients developed nDM, 17.5% of them had moderate, 62.5% had severe COVID infection, and 20.0% were critically ill (P=0.370). nDM was associated with nonsmoking (35%, P=0.026), hypertension (62.5%, P=0.045), elevated D dimer levels (3.261±3.197, P=0.036), and reduced lymphocyte counts (0.92 x 10⁹ cell/L±0.98, P=0.010). nDM was predicted by nonsmoking and an increase in D dimer level, with an OR (95% CI) of 0.418 (0.175-0.997) and 1.2 (1.04-1.38), respectively. Poor patient outcomes were not predicted by nDM.

Conclusion: nDm was observed in one-fourth of hospitalized COVID-19 patients; however, it was not associated with poor patient outcomes.