Risk factors predicting hospital length of stay in older patients with type 2 diabetes with Covid-19.

Background: Patients with Covid-19 disease could present with flu-like symptoms. However, nearly half of the subjects with positive test results for Covid-19 remain asymptomatic. Data on factors related to the duration of hospital stay in Covid-19 patients with diabetes mellitus remain limited.

Objective: We aimed to identify risk factors predicting prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS) among diabetic patients hospitalized with Covid-19.

Methods: This cohort study involved patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) admitted to a tertiary hospital with mild or moderate Covid-19 between August 1 and November 31, 2020. Data on demographics, laboratory parameters, and clinical treatments were extracted from the medical records. Prolonged LOS was defined as equal to or greater than the median hospitable stay time. We used univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses to explore risk factors associated with LOS.

Results: We included 87 hospitalized T2D patients with mild or moderate Covid-19. The mean age was 69.5 ± 6.9 years, and 59.8% were female. In the unadjusted analysis, factors influencing the length of hospitalization were as follows: undertreatment of diabetes, high procalcitonin level, glycated hemoglobin, and low lymphocyte count. After adjustment for all covariates, subjects with a low lymphocyte had a 3.9 fold increased risk of prolonged LOS (OR:3.925 CI:1.044-14.755 p = 0.043).

Conclusions: A lower lymphocyte count on admission was associated with prolonged hospital LOS in older T2D patients with Covid-19, suggesting this marker could help clinicians predict complications for an adverse outcome.