The characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 among diabetic patients in Wad-Medani isolation center from September to December 2020: A cross-sectional study

Background and Aims Corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a recently discovered infection that transmitted briskly worldwide. In this disease (COVID-19), it was discovered that several disorders, such diabetes, increased the severity and fatality rate. Until now, studies investigating the correlation between diabetes and COVID-19 in Sudan have not yet been conducted. Thus we aimed to evaluated the characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 among diabetic patients Methods A prospective study included 70 diabetic patients with COVID-19 in Wad-Medani Isolation Center from September to December 2020. Data concerning demographics and clinical characteristics, as well as outcomes were collected. Results Out of 70 patients, 46 (66%) were men and 24 (34%) were women; the average age was 63 +/- 12 years. In diabetes mellitus (DM) types, 69 (98.6%) patient were T2DM. The average of DM duration was 10 +/- 6.2 years. Insulin was the major DM medication used by more one-half of study patients (n = 37; 52.9%). Newly discovered DM after COVD-19 infection was encountered in 5 (7.1%) patients. Most of the study subjects (n = 44; 63%) had moderately severe form of disease. Hypertension was the commonest comorbid in 29 (41.4%) patients. The intensive care unit admission rate among our study group was 10% (n = 7). The mortality rate among our study patients was found to be 11.4% (n = 8). Dead patients were significantly had high HbA1c levels (11.6 +/- 7% vs. 8.8 +/- 5%; p = 0.001). Additionally, all individuals with a severe COVID-19 illness (n = 6; 100%) were dead comparing to no patient died with mild covid illness and 4.5% patients with moderately severe infection (p < 0.001). Conclusion The majority of COVID-19 diabetic patients were males and older in age. Most of the patients presented with moderate severity and moderately uncontrolled DM. Hypertension was the major comorbidity. The mortality rate was as high as 11.4% and associated with high HbA1c levels and severe form of COVID-19 as well.