Corticosteroid Use in the Treatment of COVID-19: A Multicenter Retrospective Study in Hunan, China
Yiming Ma, Huihui Zeng, Zijie Zhan, Huanhuan Lu, Zihang Zeng, Chenjie He, Xiangming Liu, Chen Chen, Qingwu Qin, Jia He, Zhiguo Zhou, Peng Huang, Mingyan Jiang, Dingding Deng, Xin Liao, Zhi Xiang, Xiaoying Huang, Yan Chen, Ping Chen
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has developed into a worldwide pandemic. This study aimed to retrospectively describe the use of corticosteroids in treating COVID-19. Methods: For this multicenter retrospective study, medical records from 488 symptomatic COVID-19 patients were reviewed. Patients were divided into severe and non-severe groups. Baseline characteristics, signs and symptoms, laboratory findings, treatments and disease outcomes were compared. Specific data for corticosteroid treatment were further analyzed. Results: 450 COVID-19 patients were included in this study, including 82 severe patients and 368 non-severe cases. Out of the 450 patients, 126 (28.0%) received corticosteroid treatment. In the 126 patients treated with corticosteroids, the median daily dose of corticosteroid therapy was 56.6 (interquartile range [IQR]: 40.0–78.4) mg and median corticosteroid therapy duration was 5.0 (IQR: 3.0–7.0) days. Among non-severe cases, patients treated with corticosteroids were significantly older in comparison with patients who did not receive corticosteroid treatment (p0.05). Conclusion: Our study indicates that corticosteroids are regarded as one of treatments in the general clinical practice of COVID-19. However, corticosteroid use may be accompanied by increased use of antibiotics, longer hospitalization, and prolonged viral shedding.