ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The objectives of the current study were to assess the severity and clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among Saudi adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Jazan region, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 412 patients with COVID-19 selected randomly from the Health Electronic Surveillance Network system, which contains the primary data on COVID-19 infections in Jazan. RESULTS: COVID-19 disease duration was significantly longer in patients with T2DM (meanâ=â10.7âdays) compared with those without T2DM (meanâ=â8.3âdays) (Pâ=â.01). Six (7%) patients experienced an increase in blood glucose concentrations and had to escalate their total daily insulin dose accordingly. Median fasting and random blood glucose levels increased after infection with COVID-19 (pre-COVID medianâ=â119 and 172âmg/dL, respectively; post-COVID medianâ=â148 and 216âmg/dL, respectively) (Pâ=â.02). The total insulin dose pre-COVID (medianâ=â42âunits/d) increased after infection with COVID-19 (medianâ=â58âunits/d) (Pâ=â.01). Most patients with T2DM had clinical COVID-19 symptoms (91%) and the remainder (9%) were asymptomatic. A large proportion (80%) of T2DM patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms self-isolated at home. COVID-19 patients with T2DM (11%) who had an oxygen saturation of ≤ 90% and admitted to the intensive care unit were higher than those without T2DM (5%) (Pâ=ââ<â.001). COVID-19 patients with T2DM (9%) had higher mortality rate than COVID-19 patients without T2DM (1%) (Pâ=ââ<â.001). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 patients with T2DM were associated with a higher risk of admission to the intensive care unit and mortality than COVID-19 patients without T2DM.