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ImportanceDiabetes has been reported to be associated with an increased risk of death among patients with COVID-19. However, available studies lack detail on COVID illness severity and measurement of relevant comorbidities. Design, Setting, and ParticipantsWe conducted a multicenter, retrospective cohort study of patients over the age of 18 years who were hospitalized with COVID-19 between January 1, 2020 and November 30, 2020 in Ontario, Canada and Copenhagen, Denmark. Chart abstraction emphasizing co-morbidities and disease severity was performed by trained research personnel. The association between diabetes and death was measured using Poissson regression. Main Outcomes and Measureswithin hospital 30-day risk of death. ResultsOur study included 1018 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Ontario and 305 in Denmark, of whom 405 and 75 patients respectively had pre-existing diabetes. In both Ontario and Denmark, patients with diabetes were more likely to be older, have chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, higher troponin levels, and to receive antibiotics compared with adults who did not have diabetes. In Ontario, the crude mortality rate ratio among patients with diabetes was 1.60 [1.24 - 2.07 95% CI] and in the adjusted regression model was 1.19 [0.86 - 1.66 95% CI]. In Denmark, the crude mortality rate ratio among patients with diabetes was 1.27 (0.68 - 2.36 95% CI) and in the adjusted model was 0.87 (0.49 - 1.54 95% CI)]. Meta-analyzing the two rate ratios from each region resulted in a crude mortality rate ratio of 1.55 (95% CI 1.22,1.96) and an adjusted mortality rate ratio of 1.11 (95% CI 0.84, 1.47). ConclusionsPresence of diabetes was not strongly associated with in-hospital COVID mortality independent of illness severity and other comorbidities.
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BackgroundCOronaVirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be challenging to diagnose, because symptoms are non-specific, clinical presentations are heterogeneous, and false negative tests can occur. Our objective was to assess the utility of lymphocyte count to differentiate COVID-19 from influenza or community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). MethodsWe conducted a cohort study of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 or another respiratory infection (i.e., influenza, CAP) at seven hospitals in Ontario, Canada.The first available lymphocyte count during the hospitalization was used. Standard test characteristics for lymphocyte count (x109/L) were calculated (i.e., sensitivity, specificity, area under the receiver operating curve [AUC]). All analyses were conducting using R. ResultsThere were 869 hospitalizations for COVID-19, 669 for influenza, and 3009 for CAP. The mean age across the three groups was 67 and patients with pneumonia were older than those with influenza or COVID19, and approximately 46% were woman. The median lymphocyte count was nearly identical for the three groups of patients: 1.0 x109/L (interquartile range [IQR]:0.7,2.0) for COVID-19, 0.9 x109/L (IQR 0.6,1.0) for influenza, and 1.0 x109/L (IQR 0.6,2.0) for CAP. At a lymphocyte threshold of less than 2.0 x109/L, the sensitivity was 87% and the specificity was approximately 10%. As the lymphocyte threshold increased, the sensitivity of diagnosing COVID-19 increased while the specificity decreased. The AUC for lymphocyte count was approximately 50%. InterpretationLymphocyte count has poor diagnostic discrimination to differentiate between COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. The lymphopenia we consistently observed across the three illnesses in our study may reflect a non-specific sign of illness severity. However, lymphocyte count above 2.0 x109/L may be useful in ruling out COVID-19 (sensitivity = 87%).
