Impact of diabetes on COVID-19 patient health outcomes in a vulnerable racial minority community

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a growing health concern in the United States and especially New York City. New York City subsequently became an epicenter for the coronavirus pandemic in the Spring of 2020. Previous studies suggest that diabetes is a risk factor for adverse outcomes in COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between diabetes and COVID-19 outcomes as well as assess other covariates that may impact health outcomes. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of COVID-19 hospitalized patients from March to May, 2020. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 1805 patients were tested for COVID-19 and 778 tested positive for COVID-19. Patients were categorized into 2 groups: diabetes (measured by an Hba1c >6.5 or had a history of diabetes) and those without diabetes. RESULTS: After controlling for other comorbidities, diabetes was associated with increased risk of mortality (aRR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.03–1.57, p = 0.0231) and discharge to tertiary care centers (aRR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.04–2.77, p = 0.036). compared to non-diabetes. Age and coronary artery disease (CAD) increased the risk of mortality among diabetic patients compared to patients with diabetes alone without CAD or advanced age. The diabetes cohort had more patients with resolving acute respiratory failure (62.2%), acute kidney injury secondary to COVID-19 (49.0%) and sepsis secondary to COVID-19 (30.1%). CONCLUSION: This investigation found that COVID-19 patients with diabetes had increased mortality, multiple complications at discharge, and increased rates of admission to a tertiary care center than those without diabetes suggesting a more severe and complicated disease course that required additional services at time of discharge.