Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33083317›Full record

ReviewIranian journal of public health2020

Corticosteroids on the Management of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Mahmoud Yousefifard, Kosar Mohamed Ali, Abbas Aghaei, Alireza Zali, Arian Madani Neishaboori, Afshin Zarghi, Saeed Safari, Behrooz Hashemi, Mohammad Mehdi Forouzanfar, Mostafa Hosseini

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Iranian journal of public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 22% 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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Mahmoud YousefifardPhysiology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Kosar Mohamed AliCollege of Medicine, University of Sulaimani, Sulaimani, Iraq.
Abbas AghaeiSocial Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
Alireza ZaliFunctional Neurosurgery Research Center, Shohada Tajrish Neurosurgical Comprehensive Center of Excellence, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Arian Madani NeishabooriPhysiology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Afshin ZarghiDepartment of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Saeed SafariProteomics Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Behrooz HashemiEmergency Department, Shohadye Tajrish Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mohammad Mehdi ForouzanfarEmergency Department, Shohadye Tajrish Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mostafa HosseiniDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences · IRIran University of Medical Sciences · IRKurdistan University of Medical Sciences · IRTehran University of Medical Sciences · IRUniversity of Sulaimani · IQ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe aimed to examine the available evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of corticosteroids on the management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV).

methodAn extensive search was conducted in Medline, Embase, and Central databases until the end of March 2020, using keywords related to corticosteroids, COVID-19, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. The main outcome was considered to be the mortality rate, length of stay, virus clearance time, symptom improvement, and lung function improvement. The findings are presented as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

resultsFifteen paper compromising 5 studies on COVID-19, 8 studies on SARS-CoV and 2 studies on MERS-CoV were included. One study was clinical trial and the rest were cohort. The analyses showed that corticosteroids were not reduce the mortality rate of COVID-19 (OR=1.08; 95% CI: 0.34 to 3.50) and SARS-CoV (OR=0.77; 95% CI: 0.34 to 1.3) patients, while they were associated with higher mortality rate of patients with MERS-CoV (OR = 2.52; 95% CI: 1.41 to 4.50). Moreover, it appears that corticosteroids administration would not be effective in shortening viral clearance time, length of hospitalization, and duration of relief symptoms following viral severe acute respiratory infections.

conclusionThere is no evidences that corticosteroids are safe and effective on the treatment of severe acute respiratory infection when COVID-19 disease is suspected. Therefore, corticosteroids prescription in COVID-19 patients should be avoided.

Indexed as

CoronavirusCoronavirus infectionsGlucocorticoidsMethylprednisolone

Identifiers

PMID33083317
PMCPMC7554375
OpenAlexW3046836290

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.