Table 4 Comparison of pre-COVID, post-COVID, and changes in neuropathy characteristics between participants with type 2 diabetes without COVID infection, with COVID, and long-COVID.

	No COVID-19 (n = 41)	COVID-19 (n = 21)	Long-COVID (n = 9)	P value
DPN (DN4 & CNFL) pre-COVID, n (%)	5/41 (12.2)	2/21 (9.5)	1/9 (11.1)	0.95
DPN (DN4 & CNFL) post-COVID, n (%)	10/41 (24.4)	5/21 (23.8)	3/9 (33.3)	0.84
DPN (DN4 & VPT) pre-COVID, n (%)	5/40 (12.5)	2/20 (10.0)	2/8 (25.0)	0.56
DPN (DN4 & VPT) post-COVID, n (%)	3/40 (7.5)	2/20 (10.0)	2/9 (22.2)	0.42
CNFD pre-COVID, fibers/mm²	26.3 ± 9.5	27.4 ± 9.6	24.4 ± 5.3	0.41
CNFD post-COVID, fibers/mm²	22.3 ± 8.3	23.0 ± 7.9	25.2 ± 5.5	0.49
ΔCNFD, fibers/mm²	-4.0 ± 6.7	-4.3 ± 8.0	0.8 ± 8.0	0.08
CNBD pre-COVID, branches/mm²	62.9 ± 35.6	72.3 ± 51.3	50.0 ± 23.4	0.22
CNBD post-COVID, branches/mm²	40.7 ± 28.6	39.4 ± 25.8	37.6 ± 20.6	0.88
ΔCNBD, branches/mm²	-22.2 ± 33.3	-32.9 ± 44.7	-12.4 ± 28.5	0.21
CNFL pre-COVID, mm/mm²	17.3 ± 6.4	18.1 ± 6.8	15.8 ± 4.5	0.36
CNFL post-COVID, mm/mm²	14.9 ± 6.2	14.6 ± 5.2	14.9 ± 3.7	0.88
ΔCNFL, mm/mm²	-2.3 ± 4.8	-3.5 ± 5.0	-0.9 ± 5.5	0.18
VPT pre-COVID, V	9.6 ± 5.7	7.8 ± 4.3	13.4 ± 6.2	< 0.05
VPT post-COVID, V	9.8 ± 6.9	8.9 ± 5.3	15.0 ± 7.6	0.07
ΔVPT, V	0.2 ± 6.1	1.1 ± 4.0	1.6 ± 2.6	0.87
DN4 pre-COVID, score	2.5 ± 2.7	2.6 ± 2.0	4.0 ± 2.8	0.17
DN4 post-COVID, score	2.2 ± 2.2	2.4 ± 2.4	3.8 ± 1.8	0.12
ΔDN4, score	-0.3 ± 2.2	-0.2 ± 2.2	-0.2 ± 2.9	0.99

Numeric variables are summarized as means ± standard deviation. Variables were compared using one-way ANOVA. Variables that were significantly different between the no COVID-19, COVID-19, and long-COVID group were denoted as ‡P ≤ 0.05, †P ≤ 0.01, ††P ≤ 0.001, †††P ≤ 0.0001. P value for COVID-19 vs. long-COVID. Abbreviations: Δ = difference, CNFD = corneal nerve fiber density, CNBD = corneal nerve branch density, CNFL = corneal nerve fiber length, and VPT = vibration perception threshold.

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