Outcome of COVID-19 infection in people with diabetes mellitus or obesity in the primary care setting in Catalonia, Spain: A retrospective cohort study of the initial three waves

AIM

We estimate the incidence and risk factors for fatal and non-fatal events among the COVID-19 infected subjects based on the presence of obesity or diabetes during the initial three epidemiological waves in our region.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cohort study. A primary care database was used to identify persons with COVID-19. We stratified for subjects who either had diabetes mellitus or obesity. The follow-up period for study events was up to 90 days from inclusion.

RESULTS

In total, 1238,710 subjects were analysed. Subjects with diabetes mellitus or obesity were older and had a worse comorbidity profile compared with groups without these conditions. Fatal events were more frequent among people with diabetes and during the first wave. In the second and third waves, the number of study events decreased. Diabetes was a risk factor for fatal events in all models, while obesity was only in the model adjusted for age, sex, diabetes and COVID-19 waves. HIV, cancer, or autoimmune diseases were risk factors for mortality among subjects with COVID-19 in the fully-adjusted model.

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetes was an independent risk factor for mortality among people with COVID-19. The number of fatal events decreased during the second and third waves in our region, both in those with diabetes or obesity.

The effectiveness of a community-based, type 2 diabetes prevention programme on health-related quality of life. The DE-PLAN study

Background and aims

The DE-PLAN was a European multicenter study, with the primary objective of testing whether a community-based lifestyle modification programme could serve as a means of primary prevention for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in high-risk individuals (based on the FINDRISC questionnaire). The aim of this study was to examine the impact of a 1-year community-based lifestyle intervention on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in individuals from four participating European centers (Athens, Barcelona, Krakow, Kaunas), through a post-hoc analysis.

Materials and methods

Each center was allowed to implement different intervention strategies specifically tailored to the needs of their corresponding population sample. Before and after the intervention, participants underwent clinical evaluation, anthropometric measurements, an oral glucose tolerance test and lipid profile measurements. Health-related quality of life was assessed using the validated HRQOL-15D questionnaire. A difference of ±0.015 in the 15D questionnaire score was set as the threshold of clinically meaningful change.

Results

Data from 786 participants (67% females, mean age 59.7±9.4 years, BMI 31.5±4.5 kg/m²) with complete data regarding the HRQOL were analyzed (Athens: 104, Barcelona: 434, Krakow: 175, Kaunas: 70). After 1 year, a significant overall improvement in HRQOL was shown, as depicted by a change of 15D score from baseline value (0.88±0.9) to post-intervention (0.90±0.87, P<0.001), achieving the threshold of clinically meaningful change. A significant weight reduction was also observed (-0.8±4.0 kg, P<0.001). In multivariate analysis, improvement in HRQOL was independently associated with lower 15D score at baseline (P<0.001) and self-reported increase in overall exercise time (P<0.001) as assessed through specifically designed trial questionnaires.

Conclusion

A community-based lifestyle intervention programme aiming at T2D prevention, applied on a heterogeneous population and with varied methods, was shown to improve overall health-related quality of life to a clinically meaningful degree.

Metabolic syndrome and risk of cancer: a study protocol of case-control study using data from the Information System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP) in Catalonia

BACKGROUND

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is defined by the clustering of specific metabolic disorders in one subject. MS is highly prevalent globally and currently considered a growing public health concern. MS comprises obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance. Mechanisms linking MS with cancer are poorly understood, and it is as yet unknown if MS confers a greater risk than the risk entailed by each of its separate components. The main objective of this study is to compare the association between MS and 14 site-specific cancer against the association between one or two individual components of MS and cancer. The secondary objective is to evaluate the time elapsed since the diagnosis of MS and the subsequent onset of cancer within the 2006-2017 period by sex.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A case-control study will be conducted for the main objective and a cohort of patients with MS will be followed for the evaluation of the second objective. Incident cases of fourteen types of cancer in patients ≥40 years of age diagnosed prospectively will be selected from electronic primary care records in the Information System for Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP database; www.sidiap.org). The SIDIAP database includes anonymous data from 6 million people (80% of the Catalan population) registered in 286 primary healthcare centres. Each matched control (four controls for each case) will have the same inclusion date, the same sex and age (±1 year) than the paired case. Logistic regression and a descriptive analysis and Kaplan-Meier analysis will be performed, in accordance with the objectives.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The protocol of the study was approved by the IDIAP Jordi Gol Clinical Research Ethics Committee (protocol P17/212). The study's findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and disseminated at national and international conferences and oral presentations to researchers, clinicians and policy makers.

Implementation of the DP-TRANSFERS project in Catalonia: A translational method to improve diabetes screening and prevention in primary care

Background

The DE-PLAN-CAT project (Diabetes in Europe–Prevention using lifestyle, physical activity and nutritional intervention–Catalonia) has shown that an intensive lifestyle intervention is feasible in the primary care setting and substantially reduces the incidence of diabetes among high-risk Mediterranean participants. The DP-TRANSFERS project (Diabetes Prevention–Transferring findings from European research to society) is a large-scale national programme aimed at implementing this intervention in primary care centres whenever feasible.

Methods

A multidisciplinary committee first evaluated the programme in health professionals and then participants without diabetes aged 45–75 years identified as being at risk of developing diabetes: FINDRISC (Finnish Diabetes Risk Score)>11 and/or pre-diabetes diagnosis. Implementation was supported by a 4-channel transfer approach (institutional relationships, facilitator workshops, collaborative groupware, programme website) and built upon a 3-step (screening, intervention, follow-up) real-life strategy. The 2-year lifestyle intervention included a 9-hour basic module (6 sessions) and a subsequent 15-hour continuity module (10 sessions) delivered by trained primary healthcare professionals. A 3-level (centre, professionals and participants) descriptive analysis was conducted using cluster sampling to assess results and barriers identified one year after implementation.

Results

The programme was started in June-2016 and evaluated in July-2017. In all, 103 centres covering all the primary care services for 1.4 million inhabitants (27.9% of all centres in Catalonia) and 506 professionals agreed to develop the programme. At the end of the first year, 83 centres (80.6%) remained active and 305 professionals (60.3%) maintained regular web-based activities. Implementation was not feasible in 20 centres (19.4%), and 5 main barriers were prioritized: lack of healthcare manager commitment; discontinuity of the initial effort; substantial increase in staff workload; shift in professional status and lack of acceptance. Overall, 1819 people were screened and 1458 (80.1%) followed the lifestyle intervention, with 1190 (81.6% or 65.4% of those screened) participating in the basic module and 912 in the continuity module (62.5% or 50.1%, respectively).

Conclusions

A large-scale lifestyle intervention in primary care can be properly implemented within a reasonably short time using existing public healthcare resources. Regrettably, one fifth of the centres and more than one third of the professionals showed substantial resistance to performing these additional activities.

[Incidence of type 2 diabetes and its diagnosis process in the decade 1991-2000 in a primary health care centre]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

To determine the annual incidence and reasons for diagnosing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) from 1991 to 2000.

PATIENTS AND METHOD

We performed a retrospective, longitudinal study. The clinical records of all new cases of T2DM registered in an urban primary care center over a 10-year period were reviewed. The annual incidence and prevalence in the population aged more than 14 years old were calculated. Statistical analyses of temporal trends and periodicity (monthly, seasonal and annual) were performed with ARIMA models (Box-Jenkins), Poisson parametrical regression and semiparametrical (GAM) models.

RESULTS

There were 598 true new cases of T2DM (mean age [SD]: 59.7 [11.4] years; 51.3% women). The most frequent associated cardiovascular risk factors were obesity (58.5%) and hypertension (68.2%). The main reasons for diagnosing T2DM were the presence of previous hyperglycemia (64.7%) and the application of protocols for other cardiovascular risk factors (12.4%).The annual incidence was 37.9 per 10,000 persons (95% CI, 34.9-40.9) with no differences between sexes. The prevalence of T2DM at the beginning and end of the study period was 4.4 (95% CI, 2.0-4.8) and 5.5% (95% CI, 5.2-5.9) (25% relative increase). There was no significant temporal trend in the incidence of T2DM over the years.

CONCLUSIONS

The observed incidence of T2DM is high compared with that reported in other studies. The increase in prevalence was not related to a progressive increase in the incidence. The most frequent reasons for diagnosing T2DM were previous hyperglycemia and the application of protocols for other cardiovascular risk factors. This finding seems to be related to an early diagnosis and could benefit these patients.