OBJECTIVES: To assess whether metformin therapy for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) was associated with a reduced mortality rate in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 compared to other antihyperglycemic drugs. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients with T2DM who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between 1 August 2020 and 1 August 2021. The patients were required to be aged over 18 years old and to be undergoing treatment for hyperglycemia, whether with metformin, other oral antidiabetic drugs, or insulin. A data exploitation sheet was completed for each patient. The Jamovi (https://www. RESULTS: We identified 115 COVID-19 patients with T2DM, of whom 41 were on metformin, 35 patients were on insulin, and 39 patients were on other oral antihyperglycemic agents
the average age of patients was 65.5±13.2 years, and 52.2% were male. The mortality rate was lower in the metformin user group (21.1%) compared to the non-user group (78.9%). The multivariate logistic regression model indicated that age (OR=1.06
95% CI (1.02-1.10)
p=0.002) and glycemia (OR=1.49
95% CI (1.05-2.11)
p=0.024) were significantly associated with mortality in patients with T2DM and COVID-19. Whereas, the use of metformin was identified as a protective factor (OR=0.34 95% CI (0.12-0.95)
p=0.041). CONCLUSION: This study highlighted that metformin seems to be associated with significantly decreased mortality in adults with T2DM and COVID-19.