The epidemic of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), a disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, rapidly spread worldwide and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020.~It is well known that people with diabetes have increased infection risk, especially for influenza and pneumonia. Moreover, diabetes was previously reported as a major risk factor for mortality in people infected with the H1N1 pandemic influenza and, more recently, with the Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) . Epidemiological studies have quickly and consistently pointed out diabetes as one of the major comorbidities associated with COVID-19 and affecting its severity.~The prevalence of diabetes in patients with COVID-19 was first reported to range from 5% to 20%. Furthermore, the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalisation Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) reported a diabetes prevalence of 28.3% in hospitalised patients in the USA.~More importantly, all studies published so far have reported a two- to threefold higher prevalence of diabetes in patients in ICUs compared with those with less severe disease and an increased mortality in people with diabetes. A recent meta-analysis further demonstrated that diabetes was associated with a more than doubled risk for ICU admission and a more than tripled risk for death.~However, precise data regarding diabetes characteristics in hospitalised people with COVID-19 are still lacking. Moreover, the relationship between diabetes-related phenotypes and the severity of COVID-19 remains unknown. This study aims to identify the clinical and biological features and potential interactions of diabetic therapies associated with disease severity and mortality risk in people hospitalised for COVID-19. Hospital medical records of inpatients, hospitalized between February 23 to March 31 2020, at the Internal Medicine Unit dedicated to COVID-19 in the Academic Hospital of Parma, Italy will be analysed.
Patients with diabetes have been listed as people at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Moreover, the relationship between diabetes-related phenotypes and the severity of COVID-19 remains unknown. This observational study aims to to evaluate the risk of disease severity and mortality in association with diabetes in COVID-19 inpatients and identify the clinical and biological features associated with worse outcomes.