Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32283144›Full record

SynthesisThe Journal of infection2020

The effect of corticosteroid treatment on patients with coronavirus infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Zhenwei Yang, Jialong Liu, Yunjiao Zhou, Xixian Zhao, Qiu Zhao, Jing Liu

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The Journal of infection, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 200 papers, 17 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
200citing papers in PubMed, 17 pooled it
9.0field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

200 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 375 citations in OpenAlex.

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  4. Tocilizumab and Systemic Corticosteroids in the Management of Patients with COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021
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  11. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2020
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140 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Zhenwei YangDepartment of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China; Hubei Clinical Center and Key Laboratory of Intestinal and Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan 430071, China.
Jialong LiuDepartment of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China; Hubei Clinical Center and Key Laboratory of Intestinal and Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan 430071, China.
Yunjiao ZhouDepartment of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China; Hubei Clinical Center and Key Laboratory of Intestinal and Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan 430071, China.
Xixian ZhaoDepartment of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China; Hubei Clinical Center and Key Laboratory of Intestinal and Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan 430071, China.
Qiu ZhaoDepartment of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China; Hubei Clinical Center and Key Laboratory of Intestinal and Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan 430071, China.
Jing LiuDepartment of Gastroenterology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China; Hubei Clinical Center and Key Laboratory of Intestinal and Colorectal Diseases, Wuhan 430071, China. Electronic address: liujing_GI@whu.edu.cn.
Wuhan University · CNHubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention · CNZhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesAn outbreak of novel coronavirus in 2019 threatens the health of people, and there is no proven pharmacological treatment. Although corticosteroids were widely used during outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome, their efficacy remainedhighly controversial. We aimed to further evaluate the influence of corticosteroids on patients with coronavirus infection.

methodsWe conducted a comprehensive search of literature published in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) from January 1, 2002 to March 15, 2020. All statistical analyses in this study were performed on stata14.0.

resultsA total of 5270 patients from 15 studies were included in this meta-analysis. The result indicated that critical patients were more likely to require corticosteroids therapy (risk ratio [RR] = 1.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.28-1.90, P<0.001). However, corticosteroid treatment was associated with higher mortality (RR = 2.11, 95%CI = 1.13-3.94, P = 0.019), longer length of stay (weighted mean difference [WMD] = 6.31, 95%CI = 5.26-7.37, P<0.001), a higher rate of bacterial infection (RR = 2.08, 95%CI = 1.54-2.81, P<0.001), and hypokalemia (RR = 2.21, 95%CI = 1.07-4.55, P = 0.032) but not hyperglycemia (RR = 1.37, 95%CI=0.68-2.76, P = 0.376) or hypocalcemia (RR = 1.35, 95%CI = 0.77-2.37, P = 0.302).

conclusionsPatients with severe conditions are more likely to require corticosteroids. Corticosteroid use is associated with increased mortality in patients with coronavirus pneumonia.

Indexed as

BetacoronavirusAdrenal Cortex HormonesCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19HumansPandemicsPneumonia, ViralSARS-CoV-2Adrenal Cortex HormonesCoronaviruscorticosteroid treatmentCOVID-19Meta-analysis

Identifiers

PMID32283144
PMCPMC7195158
OpenAlexW3015498279

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.