Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42118190›Full record

SynthesisJournal of general internal medicine2026

Effectiveness of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir for Outpatients in the Era of Omicron, Vaccination, and Previous Infection: A Meta-analysis.

Mark Ebell, Peter Kurotschka

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of general internal medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

2 authors.

Mark EbellDepartment of Family Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. ebell@msu.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-3228-2877
Peter KurotschkaDepartment of General Practice, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSince the benefit of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (N-R) may have changed in contemporary patients, we assessed the effectiveness of N-R for preventing hospitalization and death among outpatients with COVID-19 in the Omicron era.

methodsThis was a meta-analysis of cohort studies comparing rates of hospitalization and/or mortality in outpatients treated with N-R compared with untreated patients. Analysis was limited to studies conducted since December 2021 that performed an adjusted multivariate analysis. Quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Summary estimates of adjusted relative risks (aRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and prediction intervals (PI) were calculated overall and for prespecified subgroups. Heterogeneity was summarized visually and with τ and 95% PIs. Absolute effects were estimated by applying pooled aRRs to baseline risks to obtain absolute risk reductions (ARRs) and numbers needed to treat (NNTs).

resultsForty-seven studies (10,791,211 patients) were included. Pooled aRRs were 0.54 (95% CI, 0.43-0.68) for all-cause hospitalization and 0.45 (0.36-0.56) for COVID-19 hospitalization. Pooled RRs were 0.30 (0.23-0.39) for all-cause mortality and 0.43 (0.32-0.59) for COVID-19 mortality. PIs were < 1.0 for COVID-19 hospitalization (0.21-0.96), all-cause mortality (0.11-0.83), and any mortality (0.13-0.88), indicating likely benefit in future studies in similar settings. Subgroup analyses showed larger effects earlier in the Omicron period for hospitalization (RR 0.46 vs 0.68; p = 0.0049) and the composite outcome (0.45 vs 0.68; p = 0.0078), and a smaller mortality reduction among immunocompromised patients (RR 0.26 vs 0.11; p = 0.034). The estimated NNT to prevent a COVID-19 hospitalization for patients at low risk (0.16%), moderate risk (2.2%), and high risk (8.9%) of hospitalization based on a validated risk score were 1148, 84, and 20 respectively. DISCUSSION: N-R is associated with reduced hospitalization and death. Absolute risk reductions of hospitalization are small in low-risk patients but clinically meaningful in moderate- and high-risk patients.

Indexed as

Antiviral AgentsCOVID-19COVID-19 Drug TreatmentRitonavirCOVID-19 VaccinesDrug CombinationsHospitalizationHumansOutpatientsSARS-CoV-2Treatment OutcomeVaccinationAntiviral AgentsCOVID-19 VaccinesDrug CombinationsRitonavircohortCOVID-19hospitalizationmortalitynirmatrelvir-ritonaviroutpatientpaxlovidSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID42118190
PMCPMC13569784

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.