SynthesisScientific reports2020
A systematic review of corticosteroid treatment for noncritically ill patients with COVID-19.
Synthesis in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 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
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Low Dose Radiation Therapy for COVID-19 Pneumonia: Learnings of 4 Years Since Pandemic.Clinical and translational science · 2025Pooled it
- Inhaled corticosteroids' effect on COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Canadian journal of respiratory therapy : CJRT = Revue canadienne de la therapie respiratoire : RCTR · 2023Pooled it
- Randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of human anti-LIGHT monoclonal antibody in COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2022Trial
- Efficacy of Inhaled Ciclesonide for Outpatient Treatment of Adolescents and Adults With Symptomatic COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA internal medicine · 2022Trial
- Outpatient utilization trend of bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory agents in the pandemic and beyond.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Ketoprofen Lysine Salt Versus Corticosteroids in Early Outpatient Management of Mild and Moderate COVID-19: A Retrospective Study.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- Review
- Therapeutics for COVID-19.Nature microbiology · 2023Review
- Treatment options for patients with severe COVID-19.Global health & medicine · 2023Review
- Molecular dynamic simulations reveal anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of mitocurcumin by potentially blocking innate immune evasion proteins NSP3 and NSP16.Molecular diversity · 2023Article
- Etiology, clinical characteristics, and risk factors associated with severe influenza-like illnesses in Mexican adults.IJID regions · 2023Article
- Corticosteroids: A boon or bane for COVID-19 patients?Steroids · 2022Review
- Perioperative use of intra-articular steroids during the COVID-19 pandemic.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2022Review
- A potential harmful effect of dexamethasone in non-severe COVID-19: results from the COPPER-pilot study.ERJ open research · 2022Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.Journal of exploratory research in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Corticosteroids for Non-severe COVID-19: Primum Non Nocere.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2022Article
- Double Trouble-COVID-19 and the Widespread Use of Corticosteroids: Are We Staring at an Osteonecrosis Epidemic?Indian journal of orthopaedics · 2022Review
- Potential therapeutic role of budesonide to reduce COVID-19 severity.Journal of infection and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published guidance recommending systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of patients with severe or critical COVID-19 and no corticosteroids for those with nonsevere COVID-19. Although their recommendations for critical cases were based on the results from seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs), those for noncritical cases were based on the results from only one RCT, the Randomized Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial. In search of additional evidence of corticosteroids' effect on COVID-19, we systematically reviewed controlled observational studies, besides RCTs, that assessed the impact of corticosteroid treatment on any type of mortality and/or other outcomes in noncritical patients. Of the 4037 titles and abstracts screened, we ultimately included the RECOVERY trial and five controlled observational studies using propensity score matching, (accessed on September 8, 2020). Two of the controlled observational studies assessed the association between corticosteroid treatment and in-hospital mortality, without finding statistical significance. Four of the controlled observational studies assessed corticosteroids' effect on other outcomes, demonstrating that they were associated with reduced risk of intubation in patients requiring oxygen and with longer hospitalization and viral shedding in mild or moderate cases. These results support the WHO recommendations not to use corticosteroids for nonsevere COVID-19.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.