Severe COVID-19 Patients More Likely To Have Diabetes, Heart Ailment Months After Diagnosis

Patients who contracted severe COVID-19 are at a higher risk of developing diabetes and heart conditions months after the onset of the virus, a cohort study found.

In a new study published Friday in JAMA Network Open, a team led by researchers from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that hospitalized patients aged 20 and older who tested positive for COVID-19 were 2.03 times more likely to report type 2 diabetes and heart rhythm abnormalities than those who tested negative.

The prevalence ratio of type 2 diabetes increased to 2.14 among patients under 20 who were hospitalized following a COVID-19 diagnosis.

Among older people who needed ventilators following a positive test, 16.7% said they developed type 2 diabetes, 9.5% developed anxiety and depression and 7.3% said they had trouble walking.

The researchers noted that while long COVID symptoms are rare, applying the prevalence ratio to millions of COVID-19 patients means many people could experience symptoms previously not associated with the virus.

"In addition, new symptoms can be long-lasting and involve chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes," the researchers said in a statement. "Increasing awareness of new symptoms and conditions among health care professionals and health systems is paramount to meet the needs of patients with prolonged or chronic sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection."

The team examined new symptoms among 144,768 non-hospitalized and 23,933 hospitalized people aged 20 and older who tested positive for COVID-19 and 1,227,510 people who tested negative for the virus. The study also followed 338,024 people younger than 20 with a positive COVID-19 test and 260,660 patients with a negative test result.

The team followed the participants for 150 days after they first tested positive for COVID-19. All symptoms recorded were those that were absent in the 18 months to 7 days before testing.

The latest study comes after a CDC research published on Jan. 14 found children under the age of 18 who were diagnosed and recovered from COVID-19 were at an increased risk of developing type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The study also noted that children in minority groups had a significantly increased risk of developing diabetes.