The COVID-19 and Dysglycemia Connection: Unveiling the Truth

Background: It is well-established that COVID-19 is more prevalent among individuals with preexisting diabetes and can lead to worse outcomes. However, the question of whether COVID-19 contributes to the development of newly detected dysglycemia, including prediabetes and diabetes, remains uncertain.

Objectives: To see the frequency and association of newly detected dysglycemia in COVID-19 infection.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Endocrinology at BSMMU, spanned from March 2021 to September 2023. The research enrolled 177 participants, including 88 confirmed post COVID-19 patients and 89 individuals from a non-COVID-19 control group. Comprehensive sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected, with a particular focus on oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) and HbA1c measurements.

Results: The analysis revealed that there was no significant difference in the prevalence of newly detected dysglycemia between the two groups (COVID-19 vs Control: 35.2% vs 31.5%, P= 0.353).A statistically significant association was observed between the severity of COVID-19 and the development of newly detected dysglycemia (OR 3.68, 95% CI 1.03-14.46, P= .04). Age (38.25 ± 9.38 vs 32.5 ± 8.77, P=0.005), oxygen therapy (16.1% vs 1.8%, P=0.019), and steroid therapy (16.1% vs 3.5%, P= 0.037) also showed significant associations with newly detected dysglycemia. However, they didn’t show any significance after adjusting withlogistic regression. Only age remained an independent predictor of newly detected dysglycemia (OR 1.074, 95% CI 1.008-1.145, P=0.027). Conclusions: This study observed there was no significant association of developing new dysglycemia in COVID-19 infected patient. Older age is more vulnerable to develop new dysglycemia in COVID-19 infected patient.

Keywords: COVID-19, Dysglycemia, HbA1c.