Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging disease that was first reported in December 2019 and soon later resulted in a pandemic affecting the world substantially. The disease is characterized by upper and lower respiratory symptoms and signs ranging from mild flu-like presentation to severe acute respiratory syndrome and death. Many studies have reported a noteworthy prevalence of diabetes among patients who acquired COVID-19. A thorough search in the literature was conducted to review the impact of diabetes on COVID-19 in terms of severity and mortality. A total 118 studies were found and only 17 studies were included with all confirmed cases of COVID-19. It was concluded that diabetes is well recognized as a prevalent chronic illness among COVID-19 patients, and the association between the presence of diabetes and the severity of the disease is well established. Additionally, it could be concluded that diabetic patients are at high risk of mortality as compared to non-diabetic patients.

Key words: COVID-19, diabetes mellitus, outcome, prevalence, severity