Evaluation of laboratory parameters in diabetes patients in the Covid-19 pandemic

The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) started in China in December 2019 and has affected our country since March 2020. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic. During the pandemic, patients faced physical activity, nutritional changes and stress. In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of the pandemic on patients with diabetes mellitus. Patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM) who applied to Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine outpatient clinics between April 2020 and April 2021 were included in our study. The patients' routine examinations (fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, HDL, LDL, triglyceride, KCFT, TSH) and anthropometric measurements (body weight, height measurements, body mass indexes) and the first admission examinations during the pandemic period were evaluated before April 2020 and in the last 6 months. A total of 306 patients with diabetes mellitus, 220 female (71.9%) and 86 male (28.1%), who applied to Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine outpatient clinics were included in the study. Of the patients included in the study, 297 (97.1%) had Type 2 DM and 9 (2.9%) had Type 1 DM. During the pandemic period, the mean HbA1c values of the patients ranged from 7.6±2.1% to 7.4±1.9%; mean fasting plasma glucose (FPG) values decreased from 160.1±79.7 mg/dl to 151.2±68.6 mg/dl ((p=0.004), (p=0.025). The mean LDL values of the patients during the pandemic period ranged from 133.9±41.6 mg/dl to 126.6±40 mg/dl; mean total cholesterol value decreased from 216.6±46.2 mg/dl to 209.2±46.7 mg/dl ((p<0.001), (p=0.001)). The mean BMI values of the patients decreased from 32.5 kg/m² to 32.7 kg/m² during the pandemic period (p>0.05). Our study found improvement in glycemic parameters (HbA1c and FPG) and lipid parameters (LDL and total cholesterol) and an increase in anthropometric measurements in patients diagnosed with DM during the pandemic period. Keywords; Diabetes mellitus, Pandemic, Laboratory parameters