Description of presenting symptoms and outcomes among patients with type 1 diabetes and confirmed or suspected COVID-19 in the United States

ABSTRACT

Introduction: While there is rapidly emerging information describing characteristics of patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19, no such data is available for people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Objective: This U.S. based, multi-center surveillance study aimed to investigate characteristics, presenting symptoms, and adverse outcomes of patients with T1D who tested positive for SARS CoV-2 (N = 26). As a secondary objective, this study also reports patient attributes and clinical outcomes among T1D patients with COVID-like symptoms (N = 24) who tested negative or were unable to get tested. Methods: De-identified patient data was collected through T1D Exchange's Type 1 Diabetes-COVID-19 Registry. Patient information for people who tested positive for SARS CoV-2, as well as patients suspected to have COVID-19 were reported by healthcare providers from Endocrinology clinics at participating sites in the US. Statistical analysis was completed using SAS Studio software (version 3.8). Results: We analyzed 50 patients with T1D, of which 26 tested positive for SARS CoV-2 by nasopharyngeal sample PCR, and 24 were reported to have COVID-19-like symptoms but no positive test. In the group that tested positive for SARS CoV-2 (N = 26), mean age was 25.5 years (SD = 17.98, range = 7.0-79.0, IQR = 14.0-28.0), 61.5% (16 of 26) were female, and 38.46% (10 of 26) were Non- Hispanic White. Among T1D patients who tested positive for SARS CoV-2, the most prevalent adverse type 1 diabetes outcome was diabetic ketoacidosis (42.3%). The highest level of care at the time of reporting was hospitalization (23.1% [6 of 26]) or ICU ((30.8% [8 of 26]) in this population. One patient with confirmed with COVID-19 and one patient with a suspected case (4.1%) died. Conclusions: This study provides patient characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with type 1 diabetes who had either confirmed or suspected COVID-19 in the United States.