Objectives: To describe the effect of diabetes mellitus )DM( on clinical outcomes of patients admitted with COVID-19 infection. Methods:We carried out a single center, observational, retrospective study. We included adult patients with laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted to a tertiary hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from April 2020 to December 2020. Electronic medical records were reviewed for demographics, clinical status, hospital course, and outcome; and they were compared between the patients with or without DM.Results: Out of 198 patients included in the study, 86 )43.4%( were diabetic and 112 )56.5%( were Original Articlenon-diabetic. Majority of the patients were males 139 )70.2%( with a mean age of 54.14±14.89 years. Inhospital mortality rate was higher in diabetic patients than in non-diabetic patients )40 vs. 32; p=0.011(. The most common comorbidity was hypertension )n=95, 48%( followed by ischemic heart disease )n=35, 17.7%(, chronic kidney disease )n=17, 9.6%(, and bronchial asthma )n=10, 5.1%(. Conclusion:The risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection is higher among diabetic patients; particularly, those with preexisting co-morbidities or geriatric patients. Diabetic patients are prone to a severe clinical course of COVID-19 and a significantly higher mortality rate.

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