AUTHOR=Abumayyaleh Mohammad , Núñez Gil Iván J. , Viana-LLamas María C. , Raposeiras Roubin Sergio , Romero Rodolfo , Alfonso-Rodríguez Emilio , Uribarri Aitor , Feltes Gisela , Becerra-Muñoz Víctor Manuel , Santoro Francesco , Pepe Martino , Castro Mejía Alex Fernando , Signes-Costa Jaime , Gonzalez Adelina , Marín Francisco , López-País Javier , Manzone Edoardo , Vazquez Cancela Olalla , Paeres Carolina Espejo , Masjuan Alvaro López , Velicki Lazar , Weiß Christel , Chipayo David , Fernandez-Ortiz Antonio , El-Battrawy Ibrahim , Akin Ibrahim , HOPE COVID-19 investigators TITLE=Post-COVID-19 syndrome and diabetes mellitus: a propensity-matched analysis of the International HOPE-II COVID-19 Registry JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2023.1167087 DOI=10.3389/fendo.2023.1167087 ISSN=1664-2392 ABSTRACT=Background

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most frequent comorbidities in patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with a higher rate of severe course of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, data about post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) in patients with DM are limited.

Methods

This multicenter, propensity score-matched study compared long-term follow-up data about cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and other symptoms in 8,719 patients with DM to those without DM. The 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) according to age and sex resulted in 1,548 matched pairs.

Results

Diabetics and nondiabetics had a mean age of 72.6 ± 12.7 years old. At follow-up, cardiovascular symptoms such as dyspnea and increased resting heart rate occurred less in patients with DM (13.2% vs. 16.4%; p = 0.01) than those without DM (2.8% vs. 5.6%; p = 0.05), respectively. The incidence of newly diagnosed arterial hypertension was slightly lower in DM patients as compared to non-DM patients (0.5% vs. 1.6%; p = 0.18). Abnormal spirometry was observed more in patients with DM than those without DM (18.8% vs. 13; p = 0.24). Paranoia was diagnosed more frequently in patients with DM than in non-DM patients at follow-up time (4% vs. 1.2%; p = 0.009). The incidence of newly diagnosed renal insufficiency was higher in patients suffering from DM as compared to patients without DM (4.8% vs. 2.6%; p = 0.09). The rate of readmission was comparable in patients with and without DM (19.7% vs. 18.3%; p = 0.61). The reinfection rate with COVID-19 was comparable in both groups (2.9% in diabetics vs. 2.3% in nondiabetics; p = 0.55). Long-term mortality was higher in DM patients than in non-DM patients (33.9% vs. 29.1%; p = 0.005).

Conclusions

The mortality rate was higher in patients with DM type II as compared to those without DM. Readmission and reinfection rates with COVID-19 were comparable in both groups. The incidence of cardiovascular symptoms was higher in patients without DM.