A recent large-scale study concludes that both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are associated with an increased risk of COVID-19-related in-hospital death. It finds that one-third of coronavirus-related deaths in hospitals in England are individuals with diabetes.
Over the last few months, researchers have rushed to gather information on the effects of a virus that, just last year, was unknown to science. The virus, SARS-CoV-2, causes the disease COVID-19.
Now, with millions of cases globally, scientists are trying to understand which factors have an association with poorer outcomes.
Among these factors is diabetes. As the authors of the recent study explain, early analyses from Italy, China, the United States, and the United Kingdom suggest that individuals with diabetes have an increased risk of developing more severe cases of COVID-19.
However, until now, studies have not differentiated between type 1 and type 2 diabetes; the latest investigation addresses this gap in our understanding.
The findings are available from the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) website; they have not yet been peer reviewed and are awaiting publication.
According to the authors, their study is “the largest COVID-19 related study, covering almost the entire population of England, and is the first study to investigate the relative and absolute risks of death in hospital with COVID-19 by type of diabetes, adjusting for key confounders.”
To investigate, the researchers used data from the National Diabetes Audit: an estimated 98% of doctor’s offices in England participated in this program, the purpose of which is to help monitor and improve diabetes services.
The scientists extracted information from the COVID Patient Notification System, which registers all hospital deaths related to COVID-19. They used data from March 1–May 11, 2020.
As part of the analysis, the authors adjusted their findings for factors that might influence the results, such as age, sex, deprivation, ethnicity, and existing health conditions.
Of the 61,414,470 people registered at a doctor