ABSTRACT
During the COVID-pandemic, patients diagnosed with diabetes have been overrepresented among patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. We explored the impact of diabetes on mortality and clinical outcomes in hospitalized patients with COVID-in the Capital Region of Denmark. All patients from the Capital Region of Denmark admitted to hospital with COVID-in the period from February 2020 to March 2021 were included. Patients with a diabetes diagnosis were compared to patients without a diabetes diagnosis in multivariable adjusted analyses. The primary outcome was death within 30 days from hospitalization. Secondary outcomes included time to discharge, use of oxygen treatment, referral to intensive care unit, and use of respirator. Among 3,997 hospital admitted patients, 1,186 had diabetes (1,090 type 2 diabetes;96 type 1 diabetes) . The patients with diabetes were 59% men, 72±13 years (mean±standard deviation) with BMI 28±6.4 kg/m2, while patients without diabetes were 51% men, 67±years with BMI 26±5.8 kg/m2. Within 30 days, 292 (24.6%) patients with diabetes died compared to 521 (18.5%) without diabetes (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.28 (95% CI 1.02-1.6) for death) . Patients with diabetes were 24% less likely to be discharged alive at any given time compared to patients without diabetes with a hazard ratio of 0.76 (0.70-0.81) . aOR for oxygen treatment was 1. (0.97-1.47) , for referral to intensive care unit 1.37 (1.01-1.85) , and for use of respirator 1. (0.86-1.65) . We found that hospitalized COVID-patients with diabetes had a 28% higher risk of dying within 30 days and were 19% more likely to receive intensive care treatment than hospitalized COVID-patients without diabetes.