Abstract
Background: Statins have multiple protective effects on inflammation, immunity and coagulation, and may help alleviate pneumonia. However, there was no report focusing on the association of statin use with in-hospital outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We investigated the association between the use of statins and in-hospital outcomes of patients with COVID-19.Methods: In this retrospective case series, consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted at 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China, from March 12, 2020 to April 14, 2020 were analyzed. A 1:1 matched cohort was created by propensity score-matched analysis. Demographic data, laboratory findings, comorbidities, treatments and in-hospital outcomes were collected and compared between COVID-19 patients taking and not taking statins.Result: A total of 2,147 patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in this study. Of which, 250 patients were on statin therapy. The mortality was 2.4% (6/250) for patients taking statins while 3.7% (70/1,897) for those not taking statins. In the multivariate Cox model, after adjusting for age, gender, admitted hospital, comorbidities, in-hospital medications and blood lipids, the risk was lower for mortality (adjusted HR, 0.428; 95% CI, 0.169–0.907; P = 0.029), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (adjusted HR, 0.371; 95% CI, 0.180–0.772; P = 0.008) or intensive care unit (ICU) care (adjusted HR, 0.319; 95% CI, 0.270–0.945; P = 0.032) in the statin group vs. the non-statin group. After propensity score-matched analysis based on 18 potential confounders, a 1:1 matched cohort (206:206) was created. In the matched cohort, the Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that the use of statins was associated with better survival (P = 0.025). In a Cox regression model, the use of statins was associated with lower risk of mortality (unadjusted HR, 0.254; 95% CI, 0.070–0.926; P = 0.038), development of ARDS (unadjusted HR, 0.240; 95% CI, 0.087–0.657; P = 0.006), and admission of ICU (unadjusted HR, 0.349; 95% CI, 0.150–0.813; P = 0.015). The results remained consistent when being adjusted for age, gender, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, procalcitonin, and brain natriuretic peptide. The favorable outcomes in statin users remained statistically significant in the first sensitivity analysis with comorbid diabetes being excluded in matching and in the second sensitivity analysis with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease being added in matching.Conclusion: In this retrospective analysis, the use of statins in COVID-19 patients was associated with better clinical outcomes and is recommended to be continued in patients with COVID-19.
Highlights
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has already been a global pandemic since early December 2019
The present study demonstrated for the first time that, the continuous use of statins was associated with lower mortality, less development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and less requirement of intensive care unit (ICU) care
Continuous use of statins was correlated with a decreased risk of mortality or intubation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [21] Consistent with above observations, we found a decrease in mortality, less development of ARDS, and less requirement of ICU care in patients with continuous use of statins during their hospitalization for COVID-19
Summary
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has already been a global pandemic since early December 2019. It is worth noticing that patients with common comorbidities, including hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are at greater risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and its related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and mortality [3] Most of these patients are taking statins routinely based on cardiovascular guidelines. In 2014, some researchers suggested that statins might be used for treatment of patients with Ebola virus disease [13] Most of these studies argue that statins are advantageous to outcomes and prognosis of patients with pneumonia, Fernandez et al demonstrated that hospital mortality was significantly higher after statin therapy [14]. There was no report focusing on the association of statin use with in-hospital outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We investigated the association between the use of statins and in-hospital outcomes of patients with COVID-19
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