ABSTRACT
Introduction: As diabetes is highly prevalent worldwide, understanding particular dimensions of COVID-19 infection in diabetic patients is of significant importance. Objectives: The present research aimed to evaluate the outcome of diabetic patients with COVID-19 infection, and the clinical and biochemical characteristics in survived and non-survived patients. Patients and Methods: The present single-center, cross-sectional study examined laboratory and clinical features of 160 patients with diabetes who had moderate to severe criteria. The obtained data were categorized as survived or non-survived patients and then we compared the clinical characteristics in two groups. Results: In this study, 160 diabetic patients (75 men and 85 women) admitted with moderate to severe Covid-19 were evaluated. The mean age of studied patients was 51-90 years old, with diabetes duration of 5 to 15 years. One hundred thirty-one patients (81.9%) survived, but twenty-nine patients (18.1%) did not survive. Regarding the comparison of symptoms, only the loss of consciousness on admission was higher in non- survived patients;however, a majority of the non-survivors have been admitted to ICU, 23(79.3%) and 26 (89.6%) needed invasive mechanical ventilation;in comparison to survived patients also had a shorter duration of hospital stay (5.5 +/- 5.1 versus 8.4 +/- 6.1days). Non-survivors more probably suffer from high blood pressure [23 (79.3%) patients versus 80 (61%) patients] and chronic kidney disease [20 (69%) patients versus 9 (6.9%) patients;P<0.001]. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of more than 9%, and high fasting blood sugar, severe inflammatory response, hepatic, renal, and coagulation impairment was higher in non-survived than those who survived. Conclusion: Multifactorial parameters result in the poor prognosis in diabetic patients;therefore, it is critical for identifying the key clinical, as well as laboratory characteristics of COVID-19 cases that lead to severe disease and increase the risk of death.