COVID-19 pandemic effects on diabetic patients in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently emerged global catastrophe costing thousands of lives and making millions of people sick all over the world. This study aimed to assess the COVID-19 effects on diabetic patients and to explore its effects on follow-up visits, medication refills, and psychological impacts on diabetic adults and adolescent patients in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methodology: In this cross-sectional study, 234 adult/adolescent male and female diabetic patients, with Saudi or non-Saudi residency, were randomly enrolled. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection in 2020. Results: Majority of the participants were female (67.9%), and in the age group of 46-65 years (59%). About 53.4% of the participants reported that they had received guidance about self-management of diabetes from governmental or nongovernmental organizations during the COVID-19 lockdown and the major source of guidance was physicians (70.5%). Only 49.6% of the participants monitored their blood glucose regularly during the lockdown, once or twice per day (44.8%, 28.4%, respectively) and 70.5% did not face any difficulties in finding the monitoring accessories. Regarding the impact of the lockdown on the follow-up visits, 152 participants (65%) pre-scheduled their follow-up visits with their physicians. Of the total participants, 57.7% feared that they would contract COVID-19 infection more than non-diabetic people and 23.5% reported disturbances in their sleep cycles that happened many times. Conclusion: Many patients reported a change in their lifestyle and eating habits, which may predispose them to difficulties in their glycemic control.