One in five diabetes patients hospitalized with COVID-19 dies within 28 days of admission, an ongoing study has concluded, according to several sources.
The study from the University of Nantes, France, also found that one in eight diabetes patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 was still in the hospital 28 days after admission. THE results are from the CORONADO study that analyzes the results of patients with diabetes admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, according to a statement from the medical journal Diabetologia, Published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
A woman with diabetes uses a glucometer to measure her blood glucose in Paris on March 24, 2020, on the eighth day of a strict blockade in France with the aim of curbing the spread of COVID-19 caused by the new coronavirus. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)
The results are an update of the study, which published preliminary results in May 2020, showing that 10% of patients with diabetes and COVID-19 died within 7 days of hospitalization, although the previous results are of a smaller sample size. (RELATED: More deaths than expected this year – but not just from coronavirus)
The latest findings are 2,796 diabetes patients, 577 of whom died within 28 days of hospital admission. Almost 50% of the patients were discharged from the hospital, with a median length of stay of 9 days. On the 28th, 12% of the patients were still hospitalized, while 17% had been transferred to other facilities.
While it is not clear whether people with diabetes are more likely to receive COVID-19 than the general population, people with diabetes are more likely to have serious problems complications COVID-19, according to the American Diabetes Association. People with additional health problems are at an even greater risk of complications if they are infected with the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that people with high-risk medical conditions be among the groups prioritized for vaccine release. Among the conditions listed by the CDC is type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes was classified as less risky than type 2 diabetes, which the ADA contested in a Letter to the CDC urging both medical conditions to be considered equally at risk for patients infected with COVID-19.
In 2018, 10.5% of the American population, or 34.2 million people, had diabetes. Of the 34.2 million adults with diabetes, 7.3 million were not diagnosed, according to the ADA.