Diabetes not a risk factor for long COVID

Diabetes does not appear to predispose SARS-CoV-2–infected patients to long-term post-COVID-19 symptoms, a study reports.

In a cohort of 435 hospitalized COVID-19 patients (mean age 70.2 years, 62.1 percent male), the number of patients still experiencing symptoms at 7.2 months after discharge was similar in the diabetes group (123 out of 145 [84.8 percent]) and the nondiabetes control group (227 out of 290 [78.3 percent]; incident rate ratio, 1.06, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.92–1.24; p=0.372). [Diabetes Care 2021;70:2917-2921]

Likewise, there was no significant between-group difference in the number of patients who experienced limitations with daily living activities after discharge (45 percent overall; odds ratio [OR], 1.07, 95 percent CI, 0.71–1.62; p=0.728). In the entire population, 64 patients (14.7 percent) had limitations with occupational activities (OR, 0.73; p=0.319), 159 (36.5 percent) with social/leisure activities (OR, 1.34; p=0.189), 100 (23 percent) with instrumental activities of daily living, and 132 (19.4 percent) with basic activities of daily living.

“We observed that fatigue, dyspnoea on exertion, and musculoskeletal pain were the most prevalent long-term post-COVID symptoms in patients with diabetes, with a prevalence of 66.2 percent, 53.8 percent, and 44.8 percent, respectively,” according to the authors of the study.

Other symptoms were anxiety/depression (21 percent), memory loss (23.4 percent), concentration loss (8.3 percent), and poor sleep quality (37.9 percent). Overall, the number of post-COVID symptoms was similar in the diabetes and control groups (mean 2.0 vs 1.9, respectively).

The findings were similar to those previously reported by a study, especially for pain, concentration loss, anxiety/depression, sleep disorders, and memory loss. However, while the present study analysed symptoms at a long-term post-COVID phase, the former evaluated symptoms in an acute post-COVID phase, the authors pointed out. [Diabetes Metab Syndr 2020;14:2031-2038]

“[W]e should recognize that our sample was older (70 years) than previous data (mean age 50 years). The fact that our patients were older could explain the higher frequency of comorbidities (eg, obesity or hypertension) that also influence the course of COVID-19,” they added.

“In conclusion, current and previous evidence suggest that diabetes seems to play a more relevant role during the acute phase of COVID-19 rather than for the development of post-COVID symptoms in previously hospitalized COVID-19 survivors,” the authors said. [Int J Infect Dis 2020;94:91-95; J Endocrinol Invest 2020;43:867-869; Diabetol Metab Syndr 2020;12:75]

“Future longitudinal studies are needed to further confirm these assumptions,” they stated.