Prevalence
Diabetes is commonly reported as a premorbid condition for people
infected with COVID-19 although whether diabetes is a risk factor for
this infection is still unclear. In a Chinese nationwide analysis of
1,590 hospitalised patients with COVID-19, at least one comorbidity was
present in 25.1% of patients. The most prevalent comorbidity was
hypertension (16.9%), followed by diabetes (8.2%). 3In a data analysis of 12 studies that included 2,108 Chinese patients
with confirmed SARS- Cov-2 infection, the prevalence of diabetes was
10.3%. 4 In another meta-analysis of six studies
including 1,527 Chinese patients, the proportions of hypertension,
cardio-cerebrovascular disease and diabetes in patients with COVID-19
were 17.1%, 16.4% and 9.7%, respectively. 5 A
systematic review of 8 studies including 46,248 Chinese patients, found
that diabetes was the second (8%) most prevalent co-morbidity, after
hypertension (17%), in people hospitalised with COVID-19.6 In a quantitative meta-analysis of 19 studies (18
from China and one from Australia), 36.8% of CODID-19 cases had
underlying comorbidities (95% CI 24.7 to 48.9%), the most significant
being hypertension (18.6%, 8.1 to 29.0%), cardiovascular disease
(14.4%, 5.7 to 23.1%), and diabetes (11.9%, 9.1 to 14.6%).7 Data from a British report of 20,133 patients with
severe COVID-19 who were hospitalised, showed a median age of 73 years
(IQR 58, 82) and 77% had a documented comorbidity. The prevalence of
diabetes was 21%, only second to chronic cardiac disease (31%).8 In a US long-term care facility report of 101
residents with COVID-19, the median age was 83 years (range, 51 to 100),
the hospitalization rate was 54.5% and the case fatality rate was
33.7%. Most (94.1% of 101) of the residents had chronic underlying
health conditions, with hypertension (67.3%), cardiac disease (60.4%),
renal disease (40.6%), diabetes mellitus (31.7%), pulmonary disease
(31.7%), obesity (30.7%) and cancer (14.9%) being most common.9 The main international data reporting diabetes as a
common comorbidity in patients with COVID-19 are summarised in Table 110-13.