Burden of diabetes mellitus and its impact on COVID-19 patients: A meta-analysis of real-world evidence

• Published in: Diabetes & metabolic syndrome clinical research & reviews Vol. 14; no. 6; pp. 1595 - 1602
• Main Authors: Hussain, Salman, Baxi, Harveen, Chand Jamali, Mohammad, Nisar, Nazima, Hussain, Md Sarfaraj
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2020; Diabetes India. Published by Elsevier Ltd
• Subjects: Cost of Illness; COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - mortality; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus - diagnosis; Diabetes Mellitus - mortality; Hospitalization - trends; Humans; ICU admission; Intensive Care Units - trends; Meta-analysis; Mortality; Pragmatic Clinical Trials as Topic - methods; Prevalence; Retrospective Studies; COVID-19; Prevalence; Diabetes; Mortality; ICU admission; Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 1871-4021; 1878-0334
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dsx.2020.08.014

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads rapidly and within no time, it has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Evidence suggests diabetes to be a risk factor for the progression and poor prognosis of COVID-19. Therefore, we aimed to understand the pooled prevalence of diabetes in patients infected with COVID-19. We also aimed to compute the risk of mortality and ICU admissions in COVID-19 patients with and without diabetes. A comprehensive literature search was performed in PubMed to identify the articles reporting the diabetes prevalence and risk of mortality or ICU admission in COVID-19 patients. The primary outcome was to compute the pooled prevalence of diabetes in COVID-19 patients. Secondary outcomes included risk of mortality and ICU admissions in COVID-19 patients with diabetes compared to patients without diabetes. This meta-analysis was based on a total of 23007 patients from 43 studies. The pooled prevalence of diabetes in patients infected with COVID-19 was found to be 15% (95% CI: 12%–18%), p = <0.0001. Mortality risk was found to be significantly higher in COVID-19 patients with diabetes as compared to COVID-19 patients without diabetes with a pooled risk ratio of 1.61 (95% CI: 1.16–2.25%), p = 0.005. Likewise, risk of ICU admission rate was significantly higher in COVID-19 patients with diabetes as compared to COVID-19 patients without diabetes with a pooled risk ratio of 1.88 (1.20%–2.93%), p = 0.006. This meta-analysis found a high prevalence of diabetes and higher mortality and ICU admission risk in COVID-19 patients with diabetes. •The pooled prevalence of diabetes in patients infected with COVID-19 was found to be 15%.•The risk of mortality and ICU admission was significantly higher in COVID-19 patients with diabetes.•Strong precautionary measures should be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection among patients with diabetes.