Trial reportIntensive care medicine2022
Long-term outcomes of dexamethasone 12 mg versus 6 mg in patients with COVID-19 and severe hypoxaemia.
Trial report in Intensive care medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intermediate- to high-dose dexamethasone versus low-dose dexamethasone in patients with COVID-19 requiring respiratory support: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.Inflammopharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Dexmedetomidine for sedation during noninvasive ventilation in COVID-19 patients from the Helmet-COVID randomized clinical trial post-hoc analysis.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Effects of two different dexamethasone dosing regimens on ventilator-free days and long-term mortality in COVID-19 patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS: the REMED randomized clinical trial.European journal of medical research · 2024Trial
- Long-term mortality and health-related quality of life with lower versus higher oxygenation targets in intensive care unit patients with COVID-19 and severe hypoxaemia.Intensive care medicine · 2024Trial
- Heterogeneous treatment effects of dexamethasone 12 mg versus 6 mg in patients with COVID-19 and severe hypoxaemia-Post hoc exploratory analyses of the COVID STEROID 2 trial.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2023Trial
- Impact of Dexamethasone on Respiratory Sequelae in the Follow-Up of Hospitalized Patients with Sars-Cov-2 Pneumonia.Infection and drug resistance · 2026Article
- Post-mortem lung biopsies in fatal Covid-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome: a prospective cohort study of 169 patients (HISTOCOVID).Annals of intensive care · 2025Article
- Corticosteroids for hospitalized patients with severe/critical COVID-19: a retrospective study in Chongqing, China.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Impact of corticosteroid doses on prognosis of severe and critical COVID-19 patients with Omicron variant infection: a propensity score matching study.Inflammopharmacology · 2024Article
- Dosage and utilization of dexamethasone in the management of COVID-19: A critical review.World journal of virology · 2024Article
- 1-year health outcomes associated with systemic corticosteroids for COVID-19: a longitudinal cohort study.ERJ open research · 2024Article
- Article
- Heterogeneity of treatment effect of higher dose dexamethasone by geographic region (Europe vs. India) in patients with COVID-19 and severe hypoxemia - aThe Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2024Article
- Article
- Higher-dose dexamethasone for patients with COVID-19 and hypoxaemia?Lancet (London, England) · 2023Article
- Glucocorticoid Therapy in COVID-19.Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine · 2023Review
- The development of COVID-19 treatment.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- How intensive care has adapted to the changing face of COVID-19 in Australia.The Medical journal of Australia · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
49 authors at 20 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeWe assessed long-term outcomes of dexamethasone 12 mg versus 6 mg given daily for up to 10 days in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe hypoxaemia.
methodsWe assessed 180-day mortality and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) using EuroQoL (EQ)-5D-5L index values and EQ visual analogue scale (VAS) in the international, stratified, blinded COVID STEROID 2 trial, which randomised 1000 adults with confirmed COVID-19 receiving at least 10 L/min of oxygen or mechanical ventilation in 26 hospitals in Europe and India. In the HRQoL analyses, higher values indicated better outcomes, and deceased patients were given a score of zero.
resultsWe obtained vital status at 180 days for 963 of 982 patients (98.1%) in the intention-to-treat population, EQ-5D-5L index value data for 922 (93.9%) and EQ VAS data for 924 (94.1%). At 180 days, 164 of 486 patients (33.7%) had died in the 12 mg group versus 184 of 477 (38.6%) in the 6 mg group [adjusted risk difference - 4.3%; 99% confidence interval (CI) - 11.7-3.0; relative risk 0.89; 0.72-1.09; P = 0.13]. The adjusted mean differences between the 12 mg and the 6 mg groups in EQ-5D-5L index values were 0.06 (99% CI - 0.01 to 0.12; P = 0.10) and in EQ VAS scores 4 (- 3 to 10; P = 0.22).
conclusionAmong patients with COVID-19 and severe hypoxaemia, dexamethasone 12 mg compared with 6 mg did not result in statistically significant improvements in mortality or HRQoL at 180 days, but the results were most compatible with benefit from the higher dose.
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