Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36087797›Full record

SynthesisChest2023

Effect of Corticosteroids on Mortality and Clinical Cure in Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Meta-regression of Randomized Control Trials.

Naveed Saleem, Adarsh Kulkarni, Timothy Arthur Chandos Snow, Gareth Ambler, Mervyn Singer, Nishkantha Arulkumaran

Open access · bronzeAbstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Chest, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
15.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

39 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Trial
  7. Challenges and opportunities in the management of severe pneumonia. Key concepts from the Seventh Annual Meeting of Spanish Experts 2025.Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2026
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Glucocorticoid Treatment in Community-Acquired Pneumonia.Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine · 2026
    Review
  10. A case of severeRespiratory medicine case reports · 2026
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Walking Pneumonia - Not Always so Timid. A Case of Severe ARDS Due to Fulminant Mycoplasma Pneumonia.Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives · 2025
    Article
  20. Safety of steroids in severe community-acquired pneumonia.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Naveed SaleemBloomsbury Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, Division of Medicine, University College London, London, England.
Adarsh KulkarniBloomsbury Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, Division of Medicine, University College London, London, England.
Timothy Arthur Chandos SnowBloomsbury Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, Division of Medicine, University College London, London, England.
Gareth AmblerDepartment of Statistical Science, University College London, London, England.
Mervyn SingerBloomsbury Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, Division of Medicine, University College London, London, England.
Nishkantha ArulkumaranBloomsbury Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, Division of Medicine, University College London, London, England. Electronic address: nisharulkumaran@doctors.net.uk.
University College London · GBBury College · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCommunity-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Corticosteroids may be a beneficial adjunct in the treatment of bacterial pneumonia. RESEARCH QUESTION: Is there any benefit of corticosteroid therapy in the management of bacterial CAP among patients requiring hospitalization? STUDY DESIGN AND

methodsPubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase were searched to identify randomized controlled trials assessing the use of systemic corticosteroids compared with standard care in the management of CAP. A systematic review, meta-analysis, and Trial Sequential Analysis (TSA) were performed. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, treatment failure, readmission, and adverse events. Data are presented as risk ratio (RR) with 95% CI, P value, heterogeneity (I

resultsSixteen trials met the eligibility criteria. All-cause mortality (16 studies [3,842 patients]; RR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.67-1.07]; P = .17; I

interpretationCorticosteroid therapy is associated with a lower incidence of progression to requiring mechanical ventilation among patients hospitalized with CAP. No association was found between corticosteroid therapy and mortality, treatment failure, or adverse events. TRIAL REGISTRY: PROSPERO; No.: CRD42021279359; URL: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/.

Indexed as

Adrenal Cortex HormonesPneumoniaHospitalizationHumansAdrenal Cortex Hormonesbacterial pneumoniacommunity-acquired pneumoniacorticosteroidsmeta-analysissteroids

Identifiers

PMID36087797
PMCPMC10808071
OpenAlexW4295014581

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.