Effects of lockdown in patients with type 2 diabetes

Ezequiel H. Forte, Consejo de Cardiometabolismo de la Sociedad Argentina de Cardiología. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Carolina Gómez-Martín, Centro de Endocrinología y Diabetes (CENDIA), Concordia Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Paola Harwicz, Sociedad Argentina de Cardiología, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Augusto Lavalle-Cobo, Consejo de Epidemiología y Prevención, Sociedad Argentina de Cardiología; Sanatorio Finochietto; Buenos Aires, Argentina
Diana Millán, Clínica del Sol, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Emiliano Salmeri, Consejo de Cardiometabolismo de la Sociedad Argentina de Cardiología. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Carlos Buso, Consejo de Cardiometabolismo, Sociedad Argentina de Cardiología, Consultorio Integral Diabetológico, Morón, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Hugo Sanabria, Consejo de Cardiometabolismo de la Sociedad Argentina de Cardiología. Buenos Aires, Argentina

Background and Objective: To evaluate the impact of lockdown on weight gain, physical activity level, adherence to treatment, and flu and pneumococcal immunization in patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2). Method: Patients with DM2 were followed by telephone after at least 100 days of the start of the lockdown. Two regions were compared, grouped in relation to the number of cases: region 1, more than 150 cases/100,000 population, and region 2, less than 150 cases/100,000 population. Results: 454 patients with DM2 were contacted. Forty-two percent of the patients reported weight gain and 7% reported having gained more than 5 kg. In relation to physical activity, a lower average was observed in region 1 (367.5 [0-5698] MET/week) than in region 2 (720 [0-7066] MET/week) (p = 0.0009). Adherence to drug treatment decreased overall but increased in the areas of greatest viral circulation. On the other hand, there was an increase in influenza and pneumococcal vaccination, reaching coverage levels of 80 % and 70 %, respectively. Conclusions: In a population at high cardiovascular risk and with a high prevalence of overweight/obesity, the lockdown was associated weight gain and lower physical activity, which could be detrimental to the cardiovascular health of patients with DM2. On the other hand, some positive aspects were observed, such as increased immunizations and increased adherence in the most affected areas.

Keywords: COVID-19. Diabetes mellitus. Cardiovascular disease. Pandemics.