COVID-19 pandemic: Effects of national lockdown on the state of health of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in a Moroccan population

BACKGROUND: The complete lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had imposed a new behavior and lifestyle especially in terms of diet, physical activity, and the management of patients with chronic diseases. AIM: The present study aimed to analyze the impact of lockdown on the monitoring and care of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in a Moroccan population from the Doukkala region. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study including 121 T2DM patients recruited from the Diabetes Diagnosis and Treatment Center of El Jadida city. Demographic, anthropometric, and biochemical data of our T2DM patients were recorded before and after lockdown that lasted 82 days. All patients have signed an informed consent after being informed about the purely scientific aims of the study. RESULTS: Our sample involved 84 women and 37 men with an age average of 57.31 ± 0.91 years. The effects of lockdown were more marked in women than in men: women showed a significant tendency to gain weight (from 78.13 ± 1.36 kg to 81.80 ± 1.45 kg; p-value < 0.000), that impacted the body mass index (p-value < 0.000); they also showed significant increases in HbA1c values (p-value = 0.001), significant decrease in systolic blood pressure (p-value = 0.0302) and a surprising increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p-value = 0.0132). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the women sample increased from 46.4% to 54.8% after the lockdown. In men, the negative effect of lockdown was observed only in HbA1c that values increased significantly from 8.66 ± 0.21% to 9.51 ± 0.25% (p-value = 0.0127). CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that lockdown had impacted negatively the health status of T2DM patients, especially women. We suggest an urgent development of programs aiming to improve the hygiene of life and to reduce the impact of future crises on patients suffering chronic diseases such as T2DM.