Hamid Reza Samimagham
1 
, Mehdi Hassani Azad
2 , Mohsen Arabi
3 , Dariush Hooshyar
4 , Abbas Sheikhtaheri
5,6 , Farid Khorrami
7 , Saeed Hosseini Teshnizi
8 , Mitra Kazemi Jahromi
9* 1 Clinical Research Development Center, Shahid Mohammadi Hospital, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
2 Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center,Hormozgan Health Institute, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
3 Department of Internal Medicine and Public Health Research Center,Family Medicine Department,Iran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran, Iran.
4 Student Research Comitte,Faculty of Medicie, , Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
5 Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
6 Department of Health Information Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
7 Health Information Technology, Faculty of Paramedicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
8 Nursing and Midwifery School, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
9 Endocrinology and Metablism Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to investigate the demographic factors, comorbidities, and laboratory results of diabetic patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 171 diabetic patients with COVID-19 admitted based on chest CT scan findings to the COVID-19 ward of Shahid Mohammadi Hospital in Hormozgan, Iran from 1 March to 1 June, 2020. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test was performed, and the patients were divided into three groups (mild, moderate, and severe) based on the severity of disease. Then we investigated the demographic factors, comorbidities, and laboratory results of diabetic patients with severe COVID-19 severity.
Results: Regarding comorbidities, there was no significant difference between the three groups. Moreover, there was a significantly lower lymphocyte count in the severe group compared to moderate and mild groups (P = 0.001). We showed the increase in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine to be significantly associated with increased disease severity (P = 0.001 and P = 0.009, respectively). We also showed a significant difference in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels between different groups of patients (P = 0.002) with a higher level of AST in the severe group (P = 0.020). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and troponin were also significantly associated with an increase in COVID-19 severity in patients with diabetes (P = 0.013 and P = 0.002, respectively).
Conclusion: There was a significant association between disease severity and BUN, creatinine, AST, LDH, and troponin levels in diabetic patients with COVID-19. There was no significant association between different groups regarding severity of disease and comorbidities.