Risk factors associated with the mortality of COVID‑19 in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

The present study aimed to investigate the risk factors associated with the in-hospital mortality of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Therefore, a cross-sectional study of the medical records of patients hospitalized between April, 2020 and February, 2021 was performed.The demographic, clinical, laboratory and treatment data were compared between COVID-19 survivors and non-survivors.Furthermore, multivariate logistic regression and principal component analyses (PCA) were carried out to identify risk factors associated with mortality in these patients.Among the 287 patients included, 132 (46%) did not survive.The multivariate regression analysis revealed that dyspnea [odds ratio (OR), 7.68; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.77-40.89;P=0.010], neutrophil count >6.3x10 9 /l (OR, 8.17; 95% CI, 3.16-26.62;P<0.001), hemoglobin levels of 12 g/dl (OR, 3.24; 95% CI, 1.30-8.56;P=0.014) and a partial pressure of oxygen (PaO 2 ) of <60 mmHg (OR, 7.46; 95% CI,; P<0.001) were independent risk factors for in-hospital mortality.By contrast, lung crackles were associated with lower risk of in-hospital mortality (OR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.08-0.55).In addition, PCA revealed that elevated levels of fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO 2 ), blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and neutrophil count, and a low PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio considerably contributed to the first principal components of the non-survivor group.Overall, the results of the present study demonstrated that patients with COVID-19 and T2DM exhibit a high mortality rate, while several factors in these patients contribute independently to in-hospital mortality.