Adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the glycemic status of persons with diabetes: Experience from a large Indian cohort

Manash Baruah; Seema Bhuyan

doi:10.1530/endoabs.90.P634

Introduction: There is a general assumption that glycemic control in persons with diabetes(PWD) has deteriorated since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted this to compare the glycemic status of a very large cohort of PWD prior to COVID-19 outbreak with that of a similar cohort post onset of the outbreak.

Methods: This was a retrospective study wherein entire data of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c)% available in the hospital database since 3rd October, 2017 till 31st Dec, 2021 were collected and segregated into two cohorts-one on or prior to 31st May, 2020(i.e., pre COVID-19) and another after 1^st June (i.e., post COVID-19)

Results: Total 20575 HbA1c values (12081 in the pre COVID-19 arm and 8494 in the post COVID-19 arm) were used for analysis. Mean (±SD) HbA1c% in the post COVID-19 arm (8.28± 1.9, 8) was significantly higher(P<0.05) than that of the pre COVID-19 arm (7.74±1.33). The trend was consistent in various subgroup analyses such as males (8.33±1.9 vs 7.73±1.3)), females(8.21±1.9 vs 7.75±1.2), age <65 years (8.23±1.9vs 7.72±1.2) and age >65 years (8.13±1.8 vs 7.9±1.5). The main driver for such a difference was significantly higher numbers in the subcategory of HbA1c >10% (P<0.05 compared to other categories) as clearly indicated in Table 1

Table 1 Total subjects in 5 different categories of HbA1c. Significance of each category is indicated in terms of Pvalues.
HbA1c category	Pre Covid 19, n (%)	Post Covid 19, n (%)	P value
6%-6.9%	4170 (34.54)	2542 (29.96)	0.3 (NS)
7%-7.9%	3368 (27.9)	2061 (24.27)	0.4 (NS)
8%-8.9%	2204 (18.26)	1365 (16.07)	0.2 (NS)
9%-9.9%	1565 (13)	959 (11.3)	0.4 (NS)
≥ 10%	763 (6.3)	1562 (18.4)	≥ 0.05

Discussion: Our study and others suggested that the lockdown situation worsened the glycemic status of PWD.[1] Forced nationwide lockdowns could produce acute panic, anxiety and stress which may also lead to worsened glycemic status. [2]

Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted glycemic control in general amongst PWD in general.

References: 1. Khare J, Jindal S. Observational study on Effect of Lock Down due to COVID 19 on glycemic control in patients with Diabetes: Experience from Central India. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2020 Nov-Dec; 14(6):1571-1574. doi: 10.1016/j.dsx.2020.08.012.

2. Dubey S, Biswas P, Ghosh R, Chatterjee S, Dubey MJ, Chatterjee S et al. Psychosocial impact of COVID-19. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2020 Sep-Oct;14(5):779-788. doi: 10.1016/j.dsx.2020.05.035.

Endocrine Abstracts

P634