ABSTRACT
Aims: We wish to evaluate what proportion of hospitalised Covid-19 among those with diabetes was acquired during hospital admission. Method(s): Using the Scottish Care Information -Diabetes patient record, we linked RT-PCR test results through a study window from 01/01/2020 to 08/08/2021 to hospital discharge data. We defined nosocomial Covid-19 infection as having a first positive RT-PCR test in a window from 5 days post-admission to the admission end date. Result(s): From 127,477 people with at least one hospital admission in the study window, there were 4070 (3.2%) who tested positive with an RT-PCR test. Of those who tested positive, 1674 (41%) met the nosocomial infection definition. We found that nosocomial infection was more likely in females (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.14, 1.47 p < 0.01). The risk also increased with each year of age (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02, 1.03 p < 0.01), with those over 60 being twice as likely to acquire Covid-19 in hospital than their younger counterparts. We found that diabetes type was not significantly related to hospital-acquired infection (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.76, 1.29 p = 0.95). Conclusion(s): These results show that almost half of all hospitalisations with Covid-19 in those with diabetes were hospital-acquired. This emphasises the importance of nosocomial infection and its prevention in the impact of the pandemic on the population with diabetes.