Association Between Administration of Systemic Corticosteroids and Mortality Among Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19: A Meta-analysis

WHO Rapid Evidence Appraisal for COVID-19 Therapies (REACT) Working Group, Sterne JAC, Murthy S, et al. [published online ahead of print, 2020 Sep 2]. JAMA. 2020;10.1001/jama.2020.17023. [CrossRef] [PubMed]

JAMA published five papers concerning the use of steroids to treat people with severe COVID-19, including three new studies which can be found here, here, and here. There is also a well-written editorial and a meta-analysis which is summarized here.

Prospective meta-analysis from 7 randomized clinical trials evaluated the efficacy of corticosteroids in 1703 critically ill patients with COVID-19. The trials were conducted in 12 countries from February 26, 2020, to June 9, 2020, and the date of final follow-up was July 6, 2020. 28-day all-cause mortality was lower among patients who received corticosteroids compared with those who received usual care or placebo (summary odds ratio, 0.66). The authors conclude that administration of systemic corticosteroids, compared with usual care or placebo, was associated with lower 28-day all-cause mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19.