Diabetes as a predictive factor for severe form and high mortality risk of COVID-19: Retrospective cohort study of 188 cases

INTRODUCTION: Since the appearance of the first case of the SARS CoV 2 infection, several studies have been conducted to identify the predictive factors of mortality in patients with COVID-19. According to previous reports, diabetes seems to be associated with severe clinical forms of the new coronavirus (SARS CoV 2). Our study aimed to identify the epidemiological, clinical, radiological and prognostic profile of diabetic patients with COVID-19. METHODS: This retrospective study included diabetic patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted to the Resuscitation Department of our university hospital center From Mars 1st 2020, to December 31st, 2020. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In this study, we collected the data of 600 patients admitted to the Anesthesia and Resuscitation Department of the Mohammed VI University Hospital of Oujda, a group of 188 (31.3%) had diabetes. The median age of our patients was 67 [25–75]. Were noted in the majority, of patients 69.6% with diabetes have developed a severe or critical injuries in the Chest CT Scan. Furthermore, we found that the mortality rate in this category of patients was higher 65/188 (34.60%) compared to non-diabetic patients, 130/412 (31.60%) (34.60%vs 31.60%; p: 0.464). CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this retrospective study, we concluded that diabetes is predictive factor for the need of an intensive care as well as a high risk of mortality related to COVID-19. Practically speaking, diabetic patients should be monitored more closely and need an aggressive preventive management protocols in order to prevent severe forms of the disease and a drastic evolution. More research is direly needed to identify patients of a higher risk of developing severe forms of COVID-19.