Diabetes as a factor associated with hospital death from COVID-19 in Brazil, 2020

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the association between diabetes and hospital death from COVID19 in Brazil, between February and August 2020. Methods: Cross-sectional study with cases reported as flu-like syndrome in the Influenza Surveillance Information System, positive for COVID-19 and hospitalized. The magnitude of the association between diabetes and death was estimated by robust Poisson regression. Results: data from 397,600 hospitalized cases were analyzed, of which 32.0% (n=127,231) died. The prevalence of death among people with diabetes was 40.8% (PR=1.41 – Confidence Interval of 95% [95%CI]: 1.39;1.42). After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, signs and symptoms, comorbidities and conditions of severity, it was observed that death was 1.13 times more frequent among those with diabetes (95%CI 1.12;1.14). Conclusion: thirteen out of one hundred deaths from COVID-19 occurred in individuals with diabetes, highlighting the susceptibility of this population and the need to control this chronic disease.