Background

Hyperglycaemia is associated with worse outcomes in many settings. However, the association between dysglycaemia and adverse outcomes remains debated in COVID-19 patients. This study determined the association of prehospital blood glucose levels with acute medical unit (intensive care unit or high dependency unit) admission and mortality among COVID-19-infected patients.

Methods

This was a single-centre, retrospective cohort study based on patients cared for by the prehospital medical mobile unit from a Swiss university hospital between March 2020 and April 2021. All adult patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection during the study period were included. Data were obtained from the prehospital medical files. The main exposure was prehospital blood glucose level. A 7.8 mmol/L cut-off was used to define high blood glucose level. Restricted cubic splines were also used to analyse the exposure as a continuous variable. The primary endpoint was acute medical unit admission; secondary endpoints were 7-day and 30-day mortality. Multivariable logistic regressions were performed to compute odds ratios.

Results

A total of 276 patients were included. The mean prehospital blood glucose level was 8.8 mmol/l, and 123 patients presented high blood glucose levels. The overall acute medical unit admission rate was 31.2%, with no statistically significant difference according to prehospital blood glucose levels. The mortality rate was 13.8% at 7 days and 25% at 30 days. The 30-day mortality rate was higher in patients with high prehospital blood glucose levels, with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.5 (1.3–4.8).

Conclusions

In patients with acute COVID-19 infection, prehospital blood glucose levels do not seem to be associated with acute medical unit admission. However, there was an increased risk of 30-day mortality in COVID-19 patients who presented high prehospital blood glucose levels.