Steroid in the Treatment of Outpatient COVID-19: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Babak Amra; Atefeh Vaezi; Forogh Soltaninejad; Mehrdad Salahi; Mehrzad Salmasi; Shaghayegh Haghjooy Javanmard

doi:10.4103/abr.abr_72_22

Steroid in the Treatment of Outpatient COVID-19: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Adv Biomed Res. 2023 May 15:12:122. doi: 10.4103/abr.abr_72_22. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Babak Amra¹, Atefeh Vaezi², Forogh Soltaninejad³, Mehrdad Salahi⁴, Mehrzad Salmasi⁵, Shaghayegh Haghjooy Javanmard⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pulmonology, Bamdad Respiratory Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
² Applied Physiology Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Respiratory Research Center, Pulmonary Division, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁴ Department of Infectious Disease, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁶ Department of Physiology, Applied Physiology Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Early treatment of COVID-19 patients could reduce hospitalization and death. The effect of corticosteroids in the outpatient setting is still unknown. This study aimed to determine the effect of corticosteroids in the prevention of hospitalization of nonsevere cases.

Materials and methods: This study is a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Seventy five nonsevere COVID-19 patients presented between days 7 and 14 of their symptoms received either prednisolone or placebo. The primary outcome was hospitalization. The study protocol was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials on December 2, 2020 (IRCT20171219037964N2).

Results: Although the rate of hospitalization in the prednisolone group was higher than the placebo group (10.8% vs. 7.9%, respectively), it was not statistically significant (P value.,6). One patient in each group reported an adverse event and withdrew the medication.

Conclusion: Considering the null effect of corticosteroids in the prevention of hospitalization in outpatient settings, it is suggested not to consider corticosteroids for outpatient treatment.

Keywords: COVID-19; effectiveness; hospitalization; outpatient; steroid.