Objective family burden of diabetes is associated with increased risk of hospital diagnosis of covid-19: A prospective cohort study from the Malmö diet and cancer study.

OBJECTIVE

To determine if familial diabetes burden across multiple kinship levels is associated with hospital-diagnosed COVID-19 in a population-based cohort.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 15,516 participants in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study (MDCS), a prospective, population-based cohort in southern Sweden. Familial burdens among first-degree relatives (parents, siblings, children) of diabetes, lung, cardiovascular, and kidney disease were objectively ascertained through linkage to national multigenerational and health registers. Hospital-diagnosed COVID-19 was ascertained from hospital records. Cox proportional hazards regression models were employed to assess hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for hospital-diagnosed COVID-19 according to familial disease burden, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), educational level, lifestyle factors, and personal diagnoses of disease before onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS

A total of 937 (6.0%) participants had hospital-diagnosed COVID-19. Having three affected first-degree relatives with diabetes, compared with no affected first-degree relatives, was associated with a higher risk (adjusted HR 1.88, 95% CI: 1.03-3.44; P = 0.039). Familial burden of cardiovascular, kidney, and lung disease was not associated with an increased risk.

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that the familial burden of diabetes is associated with hospital-diagnosed COVID-19, consistent with shared familial factors.