SynthesisAnnals of medicine2021
The use of statins was associated with reduced COVID-19 mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Annals of medicine, 2021. The graph read 1 number from its abstract, feeding 1 cell of the map, but none could be read as for or against, so it casts no vote. It also reports an association that does not count as treatment evidence, such as OR 0.71 (0.55 to 0.92) for all-cause mortality. Cited by 28 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Read, but not usablea number the graph found but could not read as for or against
The use of statins was significantly associated with decreased mortality (odds ratio [OR] = 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.55-0.92, CONCLUSIONS: The use of statins was significantly associated with a reduced need for IMV and decreased mortality among individuals with COVID-19.
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Where it lands on the map
Rows are treatments, columns are outcomes. The coloured squares are the cells this paper feeds, coloured by the vote it casts there. Click one to jump to what this paper adds to it.
What it adds to each cell
For every cell the paper feeds: the belief in the claim with and without this paper, and this paper's estimate drawn against every other readable study in the cell. The ringed dot is this paper.
Statins×all-cause mortality
No readable resultOpen on the map →What to test next →13 readable studies in this cell: 3 favour the treatment, 8 find no difference, 2 favour the comparator.
This paper's own estimate is on a different scale from the rest of the cell, so it is not drawn here.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of statin therapy in hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2023Pooled it
- Clinical assessment of endothelial function in convalescent COVID-19 patients: a meta-analysis with meta-regressions.Annals of medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Comorbidities, Associated Diseases, and Risk Assessment in COVID-19-A Systematic Review.International journal of clinical practice · 2022Pooled it
- Atorvastatin versus placebo in patients with covid-19 in intensive care: randomized controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2022Trial
- In the wake of the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study trial.Current opinion in lipidology · 2025Review
- Do Statins Affect Viral Infections Encountered by International Travelers?Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2025Review
- Observational
- Fluvastatin: A Choice for COVID-19-associated Mucormycosis Management.Current medicinal chemistry · 2024Review
- Article
- Drug-drug interaction with oral antivirals for early treatment of COVID-19 - Authors' reply.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2023Article
- Potential role of geranylgeraniol in managing statin-associated muscle symptoms: a COVID-19 related perspective.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- Statins Use in Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases and COVID-19 Outcomes: An Italian Population-Based Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Familial Hypercholesterolemia Patients with COVID-19-Effective Cholesterol-Lowering Therapy is Urgent both during and after Infection.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Review
- Endothelial Dysfunction in COVID-19: Potential Mechanisms and Possible Therapeutic Options.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Statin Use and Mortality, Intensive Care Unit Admission and Requirement for Mechanical Ventilation in COVID-19 Patients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Review
- COVID-19 metabolism: Mechanisms and therapeutic targets.MedComm · 2022Review
- Plethora of adverse drug reactions in geriatric population receiving statin therapy for dyslipidaemia.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2022Article
- Cholesterol-lowering drugs for high-risk hypercholesterolemia patients with COVID-19 while on Paxlovid™ therapy.Future virology · 2022Review
- The innate immune response, microenvironment proteinases, and the COVID-19 pandemic: pathophysiologic mechanisms and emerging therapeutic targets.Kidney international supplements · 2022Review
- Endothelial Dysfunction in COVID-19: A Unifying Mechanism and a Potential Therapeutic Target.Biomedicines · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The marked sentences are the ones the graph read a number from.
backgroundStatins are widely used to treat people with metabolic and cardiovascular disorders. The effect of statins on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is unclear. To investigate the association between statins and COVID-19 outcomes and, if possible, identify the subgroup population that benefits most from statin use. MATERIALS AND
methodsA systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies that included statin users and described COVID-19 outcomes through 10 November 2020. This study used the generic inverse variance method to perform meta-analyses with random-effects modelling. The main outcomes were evaluation of the need for invasive mechanical ventilator (IMV) support, the need for intensive care unit (ICU) care and death. All outcomes were measured as dichotomous variables.
resultsA total of 28 observational studies, covering data from 63,537 individuals with COVID-19, were included. The use of statins was significantly associated with decreased mortality (odds ratio [OR] = 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.55-0.92,
conclusionsThe use of statins was significantly associated with a reduced need for IMV and decreased mortality among individuals with COVID-19. Statins may not need to be discontinued because of concern for COVID-19 on admission. Further randomized controlled trial (RCTs) are needed to clarify the causal effect between statin use and severe COVID-19 outcomes.Key messagesParticipants in five types of studies were shown to have even lower odds of death when taking statins.The use of statins was significantly associated with a reduced need for invasive mechanical ventilation and decreased all-cause mortality among individuals with COVID-19. However, statin use did not prevent participants from needing care in the intensive care unit.The results justify performing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to validate the benefits of statins on COVID-19 outcomes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.