Abstract Text: Introduction We aimed to investigate whether the COVID-19 restrictions enforced by the Danish government altered the behaviour of patients with diabetes compared to the background population.
Methods This web-survey-based retrospective case-control study in the Capital Region of Denmark invited 25,000 cases and 100,000 matched controls tested positive or negative, respectively, for SARS-CoV-2 infection between November 2 and December 13, 2020. Controls were matched on test date, sex, age, and municipality. Participants were asked about known exposure to COVID-19, diabetes status, symptoms, and risk and precautionary behaviour during the period.
Results Out of 47,826 included participants, 1,405 (3.0%) had diabetes and 11,591 (24.7%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The differences in the behaviour of diabetics versus non-diabetics were largely independent of COVID-status. For risk behaviour, diabetics had fewer daily contacts, were less likely to travel by bus or train, participate in indoor sports, visit a gym, use a public swimming pool or sauna, do grocery shopping, and visit restaurants, cafés, or bars compared to non-diabetics. However, for precautionary behaviour, diabetics were less likely to sneeze in the elbow, stay at home, limit travel but more likely to avoid sports. The groups were similar in terms of wearing masks, avoiding handshakes, practicing physical distancing, avoiding public transports, and avoiding crowds. However, among cases, diabetics were less likely to practice frequent handwashing and usage of hand sanitizers, but these differences were not present in the negative controls.
Conclusion Diabetics generally exhibited less risk behaviour, but took fewer certain precautionary measures compared to non-diabetics.