The progress of diabetes mellitus and hypertension diseases after COVID-19 infection and investigation of the diagnosis of emerging diabetes mellitus and hypertension

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Covid-19 on blood pressure regulation in hypertensive patients and glycemic control in diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: Our study was a case-control study and was conducted with 266 patients who applied to the Covid Follow-up Outpatient Clinic and Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic of Rize Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Training and Research Hospital. During outpatient visits, blood pressure measurements recorded in hypertension patients and HbA1c values analyzed in diabetes patients were used. Results: In our study, 41.7% of the hypertensive patients who applied to the Covid follow-up and family medicine outpatient clinic had regulated blood pressure. More patients in the control group had blood pressure at target values, while those whose blood pressure was not regulated had lower stage hypertension than the case group (p=0019). 64.7% of hypertensive patients in the case group and 49.4% in the control group required and received lifestyle modification and/or medication intervention (p=0.044). 6.4% of 170 hypertension patients were newly diagnosed. When the mean HbA1c levels before and after Covid-19 were compared in diabetic patients who underwent Covid-19, no significant difference was observed (p=0.784). When the mean HbA1c levels after Covid-19 were evaluated, the mean of males was higher than females (p=0.040). The HbA1c value examined before and after Covid-19 in diabetic patients who had Covid-19 was 5.8 ± 0.4 before Covid-19 and 6.0 ± 0.5 after Covid-19 in Minimum-Q1. There was an increase after Covid-19 at low HbA1c levels where diabetes was better (p=0.008). Q3-Maximum was 10.0 ±1.5 before x Covid-19 and 9.0 ±1.6 after Covid-19. A decrease was seen after Covid-19 in high HbA1c levels where diabetes was worse (p=0.003). Of the 96 diabetic patients, 8.3% were newly diagnosed. Conclusions: Physicians should be aware that they need to control individuals with hypertension and diabetes more closely in the post-Covid-19 period. Care should be taken against new hypertension and diabetes diseases that may occur after Covid-19. The most important task here falls to us, family medicine specialists, as primary care physicians, as the first point of medical contact regarding the health of individuals. Keywords: Hypertension, diabetes, Covid-19, family medicine