Prediabetes and COVID-19 severity, an underestimated risk factor: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread through the whole globe. Since the beginning of the outbreak, some individuals were more likely to manifest more severe outcomes. Diabetic patients were of that sort; however, the severity of COVID-19 in prediabetic ones remained less identified. This study aimed to systematically review and conduct a meta-analysis of the previously published observational studies investigating the severity of COVID-19 in prediabetic patients. METHODS: Medline/PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane library, and google scholar databases were queried to identify relevant studies concerning prediabetes and serious COVID-19 outcomes. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the quality of the included studies. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the likelihood of severe presentations in prediabetic patients. RESULTS: A total of 3027 patients were included in the meta-analysis. A random-effects model was used regarding the high heterogeneity (I(2) = 55%). Prediabetes was significantly associated with adverse outcomes of COVID-19 with an OR of 2.58 (95%CI, 1.46–4.56). CONCLUSION: Prediabetes could act as a risk factor for the severity of COVID-19. Early detection of prediabetic patients might be helpful to adopt preventive and protective strategies to improve the prognosis of the infected individuals.