Ledford CJW, Roberts C, Whisenant E, Walters C, Akamiro K, Butler J, Ali A, Seehusen DA
Corresponding Author: Dean A. Seehusen, MD, MPH; Medical College of Georgia. Email: dseehusen@msn.com
Section: Brief Report
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Aims: We hypothesized that glycemic control in outpatients, measured by HbA1c, was worse during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic than the prior year. We sought to quantify how much worse mean glycemic control was in 2020 compared to 2019. We also sought to determine if social determinants of health were associated with these differences. Materials and Methods: Data were extracted from the electronic medical records of two cohorts of patients seen in the family medicine clinic of a Southeastern academic health center. A total of 300 patients with baseline HbA1c results, as well as HbA1c results in May 2019 or May 2020, were evaluated. Results: The groups had similar mean baseline HbA1c (7.65, SD = 1.50 for 2019; 7.61, SD =1.71 for 2020; p = 0.85). Mean May HbA1c decreased from baseline in 2019 (7.19, SD = 1.45) but rose in 2020 (7.63, SD = 1.73), a statistically significant difference (p < 0.01). Controlling for age, gender, race, and insurance status, HbA1c in May 2020 (meanadj= 7.73) was significantly higher than in May 2019 (meanadj= 7.16). No demographic variables were associated with HbA1c levels. Conclusions: During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, glycemic control in our patient population was significantly worse than during the same period in 2019 (mean HbA1c difference = 0.57). Contrary to our expectations, we did not find associations between patient demographic variables and glycemic control, including race.