Does diabetes increase the risk of long COVID?
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causal agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A recent eClinicalMedicine study investigates whether people with diabetes are more prone to develop long COVID, which is defined as the prolonged persistence of symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Study: The prevalence of long COVID in people with diabetes mellitus–evidence from a UK cohort. Image Credit: Dragana Gordic / Shutterstock.com
What causes long COVID?
Long COVID has been described as the persistence of symptoms or development of a multi-system syndrome after recovering from the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some common features of long COVID include muscle weakness, concentration impairment/brain fog, fatigue, and malaise. Other less frequent symptoms of long COVID are chest pain, headaches, excess perspiration, anxiety, and sore throat.
Although scientists have identified several factors that contribute to the development of long COVID, few studies have explored the prevalence of long COVID at the population level. Understanding whether this prevalence varies by a specific comorbidity is essential.
About the study
The current retrospective observational cohort study explored the prevalence of long COVID in the United Kingdom population. The researchers were particularly interested in studying people with diabetes, as several studies have confirmed that people with a history of diabetes mellitus are at a greater risk of developing adverse sequelae of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.
All relevant electronic health record (EHR) data were obtained from the Greater Manchester Care Record (GMCR). This database hosts the Primary Health Care records of approximately 2.87 million people in Greater Manchester.
The current study investigated whether people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) or T2D were susceptible to developing long COVID following SARS-CoV-2 infection. To this end, individuals with a history of T1D or T2D and COVID-19 confirmed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing were considered.
Each participant with T1D or T2D was matched by age and sex with healthy or non-diabetic controls. Importantly, all study participants tested positive for COVID-19, even 28 days after recovering from the initial infection.
Study findings
A total of 3,087 T1D individuals were matched with 14,077 non-diabetic controls, whereas 3,087 individuals with T2D were matched with 14,077 non-diabetes controls. The mean age of individuals diagnosed with T1D and T2D was 47 and 65, respectively. All patients with T1D were treated with insulin, whereas those with T2D were treated with insulin and oral hypoglycaemic agents.
The researchers assumed that individuals with T2D regularly attend general practices to monitor their condition. This increases the likelihood of being diagnosed with long COVID more efficiently.
A lower number of long COVID diagnoses or referrals were associated with people with T1D at 0.33% as compared to 0.48% for matched controls. Compared to men with T2D, matched non-T2D controls were less likely to develop long COVID.
The prevalence of…