Risk of Mortality due to Sudden Hyperglycemia in COVID-19 Patients

One of the most dangerous complications of COVID-19 is sudden hyperglycemia that may carry a high incidence of the death rate. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between death rate and hyperglycemia caused by COVID-19 infection in non-diabetic patients.

In this study, 296 patients were selected randomly, 57 patients complaining of sudden hyperglycemia (>400 mg/dl) one week after the high fever subsided; the others did not show such complain. Statistical analysis was done to evaluate the relative risk of hyperglycemia upon the incidence of mortality rate between two groups.

The X2 value was 20.5959 for all, and the p-value was not significant except for COVID-19 with hyperglycemia that showed a highly significant mortality rate (X2=15.9, p<0.001).

Hyperglycemia should be monitored even after regression of COVID-19 symptoms, and insulin therapy must be considered to minimize the risk of death.