Statins reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19: an updated meta-analysis of 147 824 patients. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Diaz-Arocutipa, Carlos; Melgar-Talavera, Beatriz; Alvarado-Yarasca, Ángel; Saravia-Bartra, María M.; Cazorla, Pedro; Belzusarri, Iván; Hernandez, Adrian V.
• Is Part Of: International journal of infectious diseases. Volume 110(2021)
• Page Start: 374
• Page End: 381
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: Statins -- Mortality -- COVID-19 -- Systematic review; Communicable diseases -- Periodicals; Communicable Diseases -- Periodicals; Communicable diseases; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.9
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.08.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1201-9712

Abstract

Highlights: The use of statins was associated with a lower risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients. Only chronic use of statins was significantly associated with lower mortality. Eighteen out of 25 studies were scored as having a low risk of bias. Abstract: Objectives: There is conflicting evidence about the efficacy of statin use in regard to clinical outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to examine the effect of statin use on mortality in COVID-19 patients. Methods: The electronic databases were searched, from inception to March 3, 2021. Unadjusted and adjusted effect estimates with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were pooled using random-effects models. Results: Twenty-five cohort studies involving 147 824 patients were included. The mean age of the patients ranged from 44.9 to 70.9 years; 57% of patients were male and 43% were female. The use of statins was not associated with mortality when applying the unadjusted risk ratio (uRR 1.16, 95% CI 0.86–1.57; 19 studies). In contrast, meta-analyses of the adjusted odds ratio (aOR 0.67, 95% CI 0.52–0.86; 11 studies) and adjusted hazard ratio (aHR 0.73, 95% CI 0.58–0.91; 10 studies) showed that statins were independently associated with a significant reduction in mortality. Subgroup analyses showed that only chronic use of statins significantly reduced mortality according to the adjusted models. Conclusions: The use of statins was found to be associated with a lower risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients based on adjusted effects of cohort studies. However, randomized controlled trials are still needed to confirm these findings.