Characteristics of VA veterans diagnosed with COVID-19 between 1 January and 31 July 2020, overall and stratified by diabetes diagnosis
| Overall | No diabetes | Diabetes treated with insulin | Diabetes not treated with insulin | |
| n=35 879 | n=22 016 | n=3508 | n=10 355 | |
| Age category, years | ||||
| 19–39 | 16 (5571) | 24 (5233) | 2 (69) | 3 (269) |
| 40–49 | 11 (4098) | 15 (3258) | 5 (185) | 6 (655) |
| 50–59 | 17 (6217) | 18 (3954) | 18 (638) | 16 (1625) |
| 60–69 | 21 (7498) | 17 (3777) | 29 (1022) | 26 (2699) |
| 70–79 | 23 (8414) | 16 (3623) | 36 (1257) | 34 (3534) |
| 80+ | 11 (4081) | 10 (2171) | 10 (337) | 15 (1573) |
| Sex at birth, female | 11 (3886) | 14 (2993) | 5 (175) | 7 (718) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||
| White | 55 (19812) | 57 (12500) | 53 (1857) | 53 (5455) |
| Black | 35 (12560) | 32 (7026) | 40 (1418) | 40 (4116) |
| Hispanic | 14 (4877) | 15 (3304) | 12 (404) | 11 (1169) |
| Other | 7 (2606) | 8 (1794) | 5 (183) | 6 (629) |
| Body mass index category, kg/m² | ||||
| <18.5 | 1 (242) | 1 (155) | 0 | 1 (79) |
| 18.5–24.9 | 15 (4324) | 17 (2857) | 9 (285) | 13 (1182) |
| 25–29.9 | 32 (4324) | 34 (5784) | 26 (850) | 29 (2578) |
| 30–34.9 | 29 (8373) | 29 (4847) | 31 (1021) | 28 (2505) |
| 35–39.9 | 15 (4311) | 13 (2170) | 20 (651) | 17 (1490) |
| ≥40 | 8 (2453) | 6 (1060) | 13 (435) | 11 (958) |
| Tobacco use | ||||
| Never | 35 (12460) | 41 (9039) | 23 (824) | 25 (2597) |
| Former | 40 (14313) | 34 (7471) | 52 (1837) | 48 (5005) |
| Current | 25 (9106) | 25 (5506) | 24 (847) | 27 (2753) |
| Urban/rural/highly rural residence | ||||
| Highly rural | 0 (106) | 0 (58) | 0 | 0 (34) |
| Rural | 15 (5288) | 14 (3112) | 17 (605) | 15 (1571) |
| Urban | 67 (24089) | 68 (15037) | 64 (2246) | 66 (6806) |
| Unknown | 18 (6396) | 17 (3809) | 18 (643) | 19 (1944) |
| Hypertension | 62 (22371) | 46 (10056) | 94 (3294) | 87 (9021) |
| Cardiovascular disease | 40 (14457) | 28 (6228) | 64 (2254) | 58 (5975) |
| Heart failure | 12 (4155) | 5 (1208) | 26 (909) | 20 (2038) |
| Estimated glomerular filtration rate, mL/min/1.73 m² | ||||
| ≥90 | 28 (7955) | 33 (5357) | 18 (601) | 22 (1997) |
| 60–89 | 47 (13325) | 50 (8044) | 38 (1260) | 45 (4021) |
| 45–59 | 14 (3983) | 11 (1755) | 19 (644) | 18 (1584) |
| 30–44 | 6 (1823) | 4 (606) | 13 (443) | 9 (774) |
| 15–29 | 2 (703) | 1 (160) | 7 (226) | 4 (317) |
| <15 or dialysis | 2 (597) | 1 (99) | 5 (159) | 4 (339) |
| Medication use | ||||
| ACE inhibitor | 19 (6657) | 11 (2492) | 40 (1397) | 27 (2768) |
| ARB | 10 (3718) | 6 (1290) | 25 (872) | 15 (1556) |
| Statin | 36 (12781) | 22 (4803) | 78 (2721) | 51 (5257) |
| Nitrate | 3 (1231) | 2 (353) | 10 (352) | 5 (5257) |
| Beta-blocker | 22 (7724) | 14 (3058) | 48 (1680) | 29 (2986) |
| Calcium channel blocker | 19 (6951) | 14 (3063) | 36 (1275) | 25 (2613) |
| Thiazide diuretic | 13 (4648) | 10 (2145) | 22 (785) | 17 (1718) |
| Potassium-sparing diuretic | 3 (1170) | 2 (463) | 7 (259) | 4 (448) |
| Loop diuretic | 7 (2672) | 3 (762) | 24 (825) | 10 (1085) |
| Fibrate | 1 (325) | 1 (117) | 2 (87) | 1 (121) |
| Digitalis | 0 (144) | 0 (44) | 1 (35) | 1 (65) |
| Amiodarone | 1 (222) | 0 (75) | 1 (48) | 1 (99) |
| Platelet inhibitor | 15 (5472) | 8 (1716) | 41 (1438) | 22 (2318) |
| Anticoagulant | 7 (2468) | 4 (968) | 14 (477) | 10 (1023) |
| Cardiac biomarkers | ||||
| Troponin elevated at COVID-19 diagnosis | 12 (719) | 9 (223) | 17 (166) | 14 (330) |
| Upper quartile of BNP or NT-pro BNP at COVID-19 diagnosis | 3 (1008) | 1 (281) | 6 (213) | 5 (514) |
| Hospital admission within 30 days | 19 (6775) | 14 (3091) | 29 (1031) | 26 (2653) |
| ICU admission within 30 days | 6 (2313) | 4 (937) | 11 (394) | 9 (982) |
| Death within 30 days | 7 (2404) | 5 (1012) | 10 (361) | 10 (1031) |
| Death by 31 December 2020 | 11 (3781) | 7 (1575) | 16 (555) | 16 (1651) |
Data are presented as mean (SD) for continuous variables and % (n) for categorical variables
P values for global differences in participant characteristics across categories of diabetes status from analysis of variance or χ2 tests were all <0.001
ARB, angiotensin receptor blockers; BNP, B-type natriuretic peptide; ICU, intensive care unit; NT-proBNP, N-terminal prohormone BNP; VA, Veterans Affairs.