(13 Nov 2020) Corticosteroids- associated with increased survival in elderly

Among the 267 patients included in the analysis, 96 were assigned to the treatment group. Median age was 86, interquartile range 83 to 90 and 95% had a SARS-CoV-2 PCR-confirmed diagnosis. Use of corticosteroids was significantly associated with an increased survival (weighted hazard ratio [wHR] 0.66, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.97). There was no significant difference between the treatment and control groups regarding the proportion of patients discharged to home/rehabilitation at day 14 (wRR 1.11, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.81). Twenty-two (16.7%) patients receiving corticosteroids developed adverse events while only 11 (6.4%) from the control group did. Corticosteroids were associated with a significant increase the day-14 overall survival of patients over 80 years old hospitalized for severe COVID-19.