Diabetes Epidemiology in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Diabetes has been identified as an important risk factor for mortality and rates of progression to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, many recent reports on this topic reflect hurried approaches and have lacked careful epidemiologic design, conduct, and analysis. Features of prior studies have posed problems for our understanding of the true contribution of diabetes and other underlying comorbidities to prognosis in COVID-19. In this Perspective, we discuss some of the challenges of interpreting the current literature on diabetes and COVID-19 and discuss opportunities for future epidemiologic studies. We contend that the COVID-19 pandemic is a defining moment for the field of epidemiology and that diabetes epidemiology should play a significant role.