Severity and Mortality Associated with Steroid Use among Patients with COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Table 2

Characteristics of included studies.

S. No	Authors	Median age (IQR) in years	Gender	Intervention	No. of patients
					Mortality		Severe cases
					Control group	Intervention group	Control group	Intervention group
1	Wang et al. [19]	54 (48–64)	26 (57%) males	Methylprednisolone (n = 26)	1	2	NR	NR
2	Fadel et al. [17]	62 (51–62)	109 (51.2%) male	Methylprednisolone (n = 132)	21	18	21	27
3	Wu et al. [21]	51 (43–60)	128 (63.7%) men	Methylprednisolone (n = 62)	21	23	NR	NR
4	Li et al. [12]	60 (48–69)	279 (50.9%) male	Systemic corticosteroids (n = 341)	NR	NR	73	196
5	Zhou et al. [23]	56 (46–67)	Male 119 (62%)	Corticosteroids (n = 57)	28	26	NR	NR
6	Shang et al. [18]	49 (36–61)	197 (47%) males	Corticosteroid therapy (n = 196)	8	43	62	77
7	Yang et al. [22]	59·7	35 (67%) males	Glucocorticoids (n = 30)	16	16	22	30
8	Huang et al. [24]	49 (41–58) years	30 [73%] males	Use of corticosteroid (n = 9)	NR	NR	7	6
9	Guan et al. [27]	47 years	639 males	Systemic glucocorticoids(n = 204)	10	5	96	77
10	Zhao et al. [26]	46 years	49 males	Glucocorticoid (n = 79)	1	1	5	25
11	Ling et al. [25]	44 (34–62) years	38 males	Glucocorticoid (n = 5)	0	0	NR	NR
12	Horby et al. [44]	66.1 years	4088 males	Dexamethasone (n = 2104)	1065	454	683	324
13	Angus et al. [45]	Mean age, 60 years	29% female	Hydrocortisone (n = 283)	33	78	101	283
14	Borie et al. [28]	Median (IQR): 67.1 (56.7–78.1)	Female 48 (28.1%)	Methyl-prednisolone (n = 108)	25	32	63	108
15	Dequin et al. [46]	Mean age, 62.2 years	30.2% women	Hydrocortisone (n = 76)	20	11	73	76
16	Falcone et al. [43]	Median age was 70 (IQR, 57–80)	(76.2%) males	Steroids (n = 141)	43	27	NR	NR
17	Fernández-Cruz et al. [29]	Mean age 66.75 years	317 males	Steroids (n = 396)	16	55	0	58
18	Jeronimo et al. [47]	Mean age (SD) 55 ± 15 yrs	139 females	Methylprednisolone (n = 194)	76	72	NR	NR
19	Krishnan et al. [30]	68 years (IQR 58–75)	95 males	Oral steroids n = 16	82	10	136	16
20	Li et al. [31]	66 yrs (56–75)	197 (67%) males	Corticosteroids, n = 183	49	97	111	183
21	Papamanoli et al. [32]	Mean age 61.5 yrs	Females 156	Methylprednisolone, n = 153	146	71	294	153
22	Tomazini et al. [48]	Mean age 61.4 yrs	Females 112	Dexamethasone (n = 151)	91	85	148	151
23	You et al. [33]	Mean age 53.8	Female 157	Methylprednisolone (n = 118)	1	14	9	58
24	Rodríguez-Baño et al. [34]	Age 71 yrs	Female 226	Corticosteroids (n = 195)	62	30	NR	NR
25	Ma et al. [35]	Age 60 (13.8) yrs	Female 32 (44%)	Corticosteroid group (n = 47)	2	2	25	47
26	Lu et al. [36]	57 (50–69) yrs	Male 32	Steroid (n = 31)	5	12	31	31
27	Cao et al. [37]	Age, years 54(37–67)	Female 49	Methylprednisolone Sodium (n = 51)	6	11	NR	NR
28	Nelson et al. [38]	Age 61.5 (46–69)	Male 80	Methylprednisolone n = 48	29	15	69	48
29	Bani-Sadr et al. [39]	Age 71 yrs	Male 135	Corticosteroids n = 172	17	31	12	9
30	Salton et al. [40]	Age 65.75 yrs	Male 120	Methylprednisolone (n = 83)	21	6	90	83
31	Mikulska et al. [41]	Age mean 67.5 yrs	Male 132	Methylprednisolone (n = 130)	22	14	NR	NR
32	Majmundar et al. [42]	Age, mean 57.61	Male 153	Corticosteroids (N = 60)	34	8	0	0

NR: not reported.