Comparing Blood glucose changes in PICU patients with and without COVID-19

Background: Since the COVID-19 pandemic began around the world, many studies have been conducted on various aspects of the disease in adults and children, but limited research has been done on blood glucose changes caused by COVID-19. So, this study was conducted to investigate blood glucose changes in children with COVID-19 hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), comparing it with children hospitalized for other reasons. Methods: This case-control study was performed on 30 COVID-19 children (group 1) during the pandemic and 29 children (group 2) who were admitted to PICU, before the prevalence of COVID-19. The control group was the same as the case group regarding age, sex, length of hospitalization, and treatment measures. Children with metabolic diseases and malignancy were excluded from the study. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 26 using chi-square and independent t-tests. Results: Out of 59 participants, two patients had low blood sugar (BS), and one had high BS; notably, all three were in group 1. This difference was not statistically significant. Furthermore, 76.7% of children with COVID-19 and 86.2% of the other group had normal BS. The frequency distribution of BS levels in the two groups was not related to the age, gender, and hospitalization period of children. Conclusion: This study revealed that children with COVID-19 hospitalized in PICU did not have significant BS changes compared to those hospitalized before the pandemic. In addition, gender, duration of hospitalization, and COVID-19 medication did not significantly affect blood sugar changes.