Impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus on clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease
Authors: Lobanova K G , Demidova T Y U , Plakhotnyaya V M 
Published: October 2021

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are independent risk factors for the severe course of COVID-19. Thus, all patients with COVID-19, T2DM and CVD should be constant medical control and receive adequate therapy for concomitant diseases.

Purpose

To study the effect of T2DM on the clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19 and CVD.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of clinical outcomes of 1665 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, depending on the presence of CVD, T2DM and received therapy.

Results

The study included 866 men and 799 women; 299 patients (17.96%) had T2DM. The average age of the patients was 57.56±15.04 years. We noted a high prevalence of CVD: 747 patients (44.9%) had hypertension, 362 patients (21.7%) – coronary heart disease (CHD): 109 (6.5%) – myocardial infarction, 23 (1.4%) – exertional angina, 106 (6.4%) – atrial fibrillation, 98 (5.9%) – chronic heart failure. The patients with T2DM had hypertension in 80% of cases and CHD in 42%. Overall, 65.2% of patients had at least 1 concomitant CVD. Mortality of patients with COVID-19 without concomitant pathology was 0.5%, and in the patients with CHD – 20.7%, with hypertension – 12.9%. Mortality in the patients without T2DM was 7.4%, in the patients with T2DM – 14.0%. Hyperglycemia was associated with a higher mortality rate: the median of glycemia was 5.7 mmol/L in discharged patients and 7.2 mmol/L in deceased patients, regardless of the presence of T2DM (p&lt;0.001). The deceased patients had a higher level of HbA1c compared to those discharged (7.8% vs 8.1%). 24.6% of patients received antihypertensive therapy: 15.5% of patients received ACE inhibitors or ARBs, 11.9% – beta-blockers, 7.1% – thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics, 3.1% – calcium channel blockers. Statins were received by 2.4% of patients, antiplatelet drugs – 2.1%. The mortality rate of patients with COVID-19 and hypertension who received antihypertensive therapy was comparable to the mortality rate of the patients without hypertension: 8.8% and 9.0%, respectively. A significant decrease in mortality was observed during therapy with ACE inhibitors/ARBs (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.21–0.72, p&lt;0.05), beta-blockers (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.28–1, p&lt;0.05). This decrease was more significant among patients with T2DM compared with patients without T2DM: a 2.27-fold decrease in mortality due to ACE inhibitors/ARBs in the group without T2DM (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.2–0.96, p&lt;0.05), in the T2DM group – 4.76 times (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.07–0.6, p&lt;0.05); decrease in mortality against the background of beta-AB in the group without T2DM – by 1.72 times (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.26–1.37), in the group with T2DM – by 3 times (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.12–0.97, p&lt;0.05).

Conclusion

The presence of CVD and T2DM in the patients with COVID-19 worsens the prognosis of COVID-19. But the adequate therapy for concomitant diseases can have a positive effect on this group of patients.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.