Diabetes and COVID-19 (multiple reviews)

Abstract

What is this? If a patient has comorbidities, such as diabetes, this may affect their risk of contracting COVID-19 and the severity of their disease. Several rapid reviews are summarised here. For more details including citations and links to the full reviews, please scroll down this page. What was found: Pre-existing diabetes is associated with a higher risk of severe disease and mortality in COVID-19 patients. There is some indication that age influences the increased risk of COVID-19 in people with diabetes, but the evidence from the included reviews is conflicting. Studies included in the Chowdhury review (search done up to 31 May 2020) identified a low risk of death from COVID-19 for type I diabetes patients under 40 years of age, but the Huang review (search done on 8 April 2020) found that the association between diabetes and poor COVID-19 outcomes was stronger in younger patients. The Chowdhury review (search done up to 31 May 2020) found that diabetes was associated with an increased risk of infection generally but that there was uncertainty about whether type 1 diabetes increases the risk of COVID-19 infection. The authors suggested optimising glycaemic control to help with primary prevention and improving outcomes for COVID-19 patients with type 1 diabetes.