Abstract Number : JDM21-XX

Category : Original Article

Submission Date : 4 November 2021 23:30:00
Title : Relation of Diabetes Mellitus to Pneumonia Appearance on
Chest X-Rays of COVID-19 Patients
Authors : I Wayan Rendi Awendika
Affiliations : Sukadana Hospital

Abstract :

Introduction
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic condition that causes a variety of changes in human physiology, one of
which is immune response failure, which raises the risk of lower respiratory tract infections. Corona Virus-19
(COVID-19) infects the respiratory system, causing a characteristic of pneumonia to appear on a chest X-ray
(CXR).

Aim
The objective of this study was to see if there was a relation between DM and the appearance of pneumonia in
COVID-19 CXR patients.

Method
This is a cross-sectional analytical observational study conducted in Sukadana Hospital from May to July 2021. A
total of 98 patients, ranging in age from 18 to 60 years, were included in the study, all of whom had a positive
COVID-19 RT-PCR result. The data is then statistically examined using the Chi-square test with a p value of 0.05.

Result
The mean age of the respondents in the study is 47.0 years. Among all, a 33.7% of patients with DM and 78.7% of
those had pneumonia on CXR. Meanwhile, in 63.3% of patients without DM 55.3% of them had pneumonia on
CXR. The results of the analysis show that there is a relation between DM in COVID-19 patients and pneumonia
appearance in CXR (OR = 2.99; p = 0.023).

Discussion
Patients with DM become a high risk group of respiratory infections due to the immune system's failure to fight off
invading pathogens. Suppression of cytokine production, phagocytosis problems, immune cell dysfunction, and
failure to kill microbials possibly contribute to these pathways. As a result, DM could aggravate COVID-19
infection. CXR can be used as a simple modality to determine the severity of COVID-19 infection. CXR, which tends
to show a feature of pneumonia, can exhibit DM that will affect the severity of infection.

Conclusion
The appearance of pneumonia on CXR is related to the existence of DM in COVID-19 patients.
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Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Pneumonia, COVID-19