FRIDAY, Oct. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) older than 40 years of age are at higher risk for COVID-19-related hospitalization compared with younger individuals with T1D, according to a study published online Sept. 28 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Carla Demeterco-Berggren, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of California in San Diego, and colleagues quantified the risk for COVID-19-related hospitalization and adverse outcomes by age among people with T1D. The analysis included 767 patients with T1D and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 treated at 56 U.S. clinical sites from April 2020 to March 2021.
Patients were ages 0 to 18 years (54 percent), 19 to 40 years (32 percent), and older than 40 years (14 percent). During the study period, 170 patients were hospitalized, and five patients died. When adjusting for sex, glycated hemoglobin A1c, race, insurance type, and comorbidities, individuals older than 40 years of age had higher odds of hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio, 4.2) versus those ages 0 to 18 years.
“Age older than 40 years is a risk factor for patients with T1D and COVID-19, with children and younger adults experiencing milder disease and better prognosis,” the authors write. “This indicates a need for age-tailored treatments, immunization, and clinical management of individuals affected by T1D.”
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.
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