Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of stress hyperglycemia (SH) in a cohort of Brazilian patients with COVID-19 admitted to a tertiary care level hospital. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study enrolled 754 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized at Hospital Estadual de Bauru, São Paulo, in 2020. Data were collected from the E-pront system and covered sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory aspects, including mechanical ventilation, comorbidities, and outcomes. Included patients were those >18 years old, with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, who required hospitalization, with or without preexisting type 2 diabetes (T2DM), or who developed SH. Patients younger than 18 years, with other types of diabetes, or incomplete data were excluded. RESULTS: Patients with SH had longer hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stay (P < .001) as well as longer mechanical ventilation duration (P < .001). Additionally, this group needed a higher number of orotracheal intubations (P < .001) and presented higher mortality rates (P < .001) and fewer discharges 284 (P < .001) compared to patients with T2DM and normoglycemia. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who developed SH presented poorer clinical outcomes; needed more frequently orotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, and longer hospitalization and ICU stay; and had higher mortality rates and fewer discharges compared to patients with T2DM and normoglycemia.