Introduction: In spite of the negative effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the global health system, its long-term impact on the evolution of diabetes is not fully ascertained. The current study was therefore designed to examine the diabetogenic risk of adults who had recovered from COVID-19 compared with their counterparts without any history of the condition in the Cape Coast metropolis of Ghana. Research design and methods: This cross-sectional study involved 110 recovered COVID-19 and 110 COVID-19 unexposed respondents. Weight, height, hip circumference (HC) and waist circumference (WC) were measured for computation of body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and weight-to-height ratio (WtHtR). Also, systolic blood pressure, insulin, C-reactive protein (CRP), fasting blood glucose (FBS), lipid profile, 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (2hr OGTT), total and visceral fat levels were measured. Homeostatic model assessment of beta-cell function (HOMAB) was applied to assess the secretory function of beta cells with insulin resistance determined by the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting insulin resistance index (FIRI), quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), and triglyceride-glucose index (TyG). Results: Recovered COVID-19 respondents exhibited higher (P < 0.05) levels of BMI, WC, HC, WtHtR, CRP, FIRI, HOMA-IR, HOMAB and insulin but lower level of QUICKI than their unexposed counterparts. Compared with the recovered COVID-19 respondents, the overweight/obese COVID-19 unexposed group demonstrated higher insulin resistance but lower beta-cell function. Irrespective of COVID-19 background, FBS and insulin remained independent predictors for FIRI, QUICKI and HOMA-IR as TyG was predicted by FBS and selected components of lipid profile. Conclusion: The recovered COVID-19 respondents demonstrated a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus through increased insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction than their uninfected counterparts. Urgent measures are needed to mitigate the identified risk.
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