SynthesisPloS one2012
Corticosteroids in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in adults: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 108 citations in OpenAlex.
- Glucocorticoids can reduce mortality in patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.European journal of medical research · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Adjunctive Systemic Corticosteroids for Hospitalized Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis 2015 Update.Scientific reports · 2015Pooled it
- Do corticosteroids reduce the mortality of influenza A (H1N1) infection? A meta-analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2015Pooled it
- Adjunct prednisone therapy for patients with community-acquired pneumonia.Internal and emergency medicine · 2015Trial
- Trial
- Systemic Corticosteroids in Pediatric Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Evidence, Clinical Outcomes, and Phenotype-Based Therapeutic Considerations.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Angiotensin-(1-7) treatment improves pneumonia and prevents sepsis caused by pneumococcal infection.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2025Article
- Identification and Development of Therapeutics for COVID-19.mSystems · 2021Article
- Real-world corticosteroid use in severe pneumonia: a propensity-score-matched study.Critical care (London, England) · 2021Observational
- Corticosteroids for CAP, influenza and COVID-19: when, how and benefits or harm?European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2021Review
- Article
- Impact of Corticosteroid Administration within 7 Days of the Hospitalization for Influenza Pneumonia with Respiratory Failure: A Propensity Score Analysis Using a Nationwide Administrative Database.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Updates on community acquired pneumonia management in the ICU.Pharmacology & therapeutics · 2021Review
- Corticosteroids for Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Overstated Benefits and Understated Risks.Chest · 2019Article
- Challenges in severe community-acquired pneumonia: a point-of-view review.Intensive care medicine · 2019Review
- Delay in antibiotic therapy results in fatal disease outcome in murine pneumococcal pneumonia.Critical care (London, England) · 2018Article
- Adjuvant therapies in critical care: steroids to treat infectious diseases.Intensive care medicine · 2018Article
- Diagnosis and treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in adults: 2016 clinical practice guidelines by the Chinese Thoracic Society, Chinese Medical Association.The clinical respiratory journal · 2018Review
- Adjuvant therapies in critical care: steroids in community-acquired pneumonia.Intensive care medicine · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe benefit of corticosteroids in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains controversial. We did a meta-analysis to include all the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which used corticosteroids as adjunctive therapy, to examine the benefits and risks of corticosteroids in the treatment of CAP in adults.
methodsDatabases including Pubmed, EMBASE, the Cochrane controlled trials register, and Google Scholar were searched to find relevant trials. Randomized and quasi-randomized trials of corticosteroids treatment in adult patients with CAP were included. Effects on primary outcome (mortality) and secondary outcomes (adverse events) were accessed in this meta-analysis.
resultsNine trials involving 1001 patients were included. Use of corticosteroids did not significantly reduce mortality (Peto odds ratio [OR] 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.37-1.04; P = 0.07). In the subgroup analysis by the severity, a survival benefit was found among severe CAP patients (Peto OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.11-0.64; P = 0.003). In subgroup analysis by duration of corticosteroids treatment, significant reduced mortality was found among patients with prolonged corticosteroids treatment (Peto OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.26-0.97; P = 0.04; I(2) = 37%). Corticosteroids increased the risk of hyperglycemia (Peto OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.68-4.15; P<0.0001), but without increasing the risk of gastroduodenal bleeding (Peto OR 1.67, 95% CI 0.41-6.80; P = 0.47) and superinfection (Peto OR 1.36, 95% CI 0.65-2.84; P = 0.41).
conclusionResults from this meta-analysis did not suggest a benefit for corticosteroids treatment in patients with CAP. However, the use of corticosteroids was associated with improved mortality in severe CAP. In addition, prolonged corticosteroids therapy suggested a beneficial effect on mortality. These results should be confirmed by future adequately powered randomized trials.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.