The protective role of statins in COVID-19 patients: a retrospective observational study
Srikanth Umakanthan, Sanjum Senthil, Stanley John, Mahesh K. Madhavan, Jessica Das, Sonal Patil, Ragunath Rameshwaram, Ananya Cintham, Venkatesh Subramaniam, Madhusudan Yogi, Abhishek Bansal, Sumesh Achutham, Chandini Shekar, Vijay Murthy, Robbin Selvaraj
Abstract
Abstract Background To evaluate and determine the protective role of statins in COVID-19 patients. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study conducted across five hospitals in India. Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalized with existing and valid medical documentation were included. Results This study comprised 3252 COVID-19 patients, of whom 1048 (32.2%) were on statins, with 52.4% being males. The comorbidity prevalence of hypertension was 75%, followed by diabetes 62.51% and coronary artery disease being 47.5%. At the time of hospitalization, statin users had a higher incidence of dyspnea, cough, and fatigue (95.8, 93.3, and 92.7%). The laboratory results revealed a lower mean of WBC count (7.8 × 10 3 /μL), D-dimer (2.4 μg/mL), and C-reactive protein (103 mg/L) among statin users. They also had lower mortality rates (17.1%), a lesser requirement for mechanical ventilation (20%), and hemodialysis (5.4%). Conclusion This observation study elaborates on the beneficial effects of statins in COVID-19 patients. However, the inferences from this study should be viewed with caution due to the impending effect of confounding factors on its statistical results.