Comparison of Glycated Hemoglobin Levels in Diabetic Psychiatric Patients, Before and During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction The current SARS Covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected primary care and health system services provided to chronically ill patients, such as patients with Diabetes Mellitus Objectives The comparison of glycemic regulation as demonstrated by the levels of glycated hemoglobin HbA1c % in Psychiatric patients monitored at the Psychiatric Hospital of Attica before the pandemic (9/2018 -2/2020) and during its progression (3/2020-2/2022) Methods The study was done retrospectively and included 543 diabetic patients who were examined in Outpatient Clinics during the aforementioned time intervals. HbA1c % levels were measured in peripheral blood and at least two measurements were averaged for each patient. The statistical method used to compare the mean value of HbA1c % was the paired t-test and the level of significance was p<0.05. Results The mean of the mean values of HbA1c % before the pandemic was 7.22% while (sd 6.6-7.9) while during the pandemic period it was 8.56% (sd 7.1-9.9). The t score was calculated as 3.3 with a significance level of p=0.0165 (p<0.05). Conclusions n the present study, a statistically significant increase in the HbA1c % of the Diabetic patients of the Psychiatric Hospital over the last two years is found, which indicates a worsening of the glycemic control of this particular group of patients. It is worth noting that 24 out of 543 (4.4%) missed a scheduled follow-up visit, while the greater variation in HbA1c % values during the second period indicates the varied way the pandemic affected the behavior of psychiatric patients Disclosure of Interest None Declared