STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Scientific databases were systematically searched to identify relevant trials of HCQ/CQ for the treatment of COVID-19 published up to 10 September 2020. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tools for randomized trials and non-randomized trials of interventions were used to assess risk of bias in the included studies. A 10-item Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) harm extension was used to assess quality of harm reporting in the included trials.
RESULTS: Sixteen trials, including fourteen randomized trials and two non-randomized trials, met the inclusion criteria. The results from the included trials were conflicting and lacked effect estimates adjusted for baseline disease severity or comorbidities in many cases, and most of the trials recruited a fairly small cohort of patients. None of the clinical trials met the CONSORT criteria in full for reporting harm data in clinical trials. None of the 16 trials had an overall 'low' risk of bias, while four of the trials had a 'high', 'critical', or 'serious' risk of bias. Biases observed in these trials arise from the randomization process, potential deviation from intended interventions, outcome measurements, selective reporting, confounding, participant selection, and/or classification of interventions.
CONCLUSION: In general, the quality of currently available evidence for the effectiveness of CQ/HCQ in patients with COVID-19 is suboptimal. The importance of a properly designed and reported clinical trial cannot be overemphasized amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and its dismissal could lead to poorer clinical and policy decisions, resulting in wastage of already stretched invaluable health care resources.
METHODS: Electronic databases and country-specific healthcare databases were searched to identify relevant studies/reports. The quality assessment of individual studies was conducted using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Country-specific proportion of individuals with COVID-19 who developed ARDS and reported death were combined in a random-effect meta-analysis to give a pooled mortality estimate of ARDS.
RESULTS: The overall pooled mortality estimate among 10,815 ARDS cases in COVID-19 patients was 39% (95% CI: 23-56%). The pooled mortality estimate for China was 69% (95% CI: 67-72%). In Europe, the highest mortality estimate among COVID-19 patients with ARDS was reported in Poland (73%; 95% CI: 58-86%) while Germany had the lowest mortality estimate (13%; 95% CI: 2-29%) among COVID-19 patients with ARDS. The median crude mortality rate of COVID-19 patients with reported corticosteroid use was 28.0% (lower quartile: 13.9%; upper quartile: 53.6%).
CONCLUSIONS: The high mortality in COVID-19 associated ARDS necessitates a prompt and aggressive treatment strategy which includes corticosteroids. Most of the studies included no information on the dosing regimen of corticosteroid therapy, however, low-dose corticosteroid therapy or pulse corticosteroid therapy appears to have a beneficial role in the management of severely ill COVID-19 patients.
METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among PLWHA attending an ART centre of a tertiary care hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan. HRQoL was assessed using a validated Urdu version of EuroQol 5 dimensions 3 level (EQ-5D-3L) and its Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS).
RESULTS: Of the 602 patients included in the analyses, 59.5% (n = 358) reported no impairment in self-care, while 63.1% (n = 380) were extremely anxious/depressed. The overall mean EQ-5D utility score and visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) score were 0.388 (SD: 0.41) and 66.20 (SD: 17.22), respectively. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that the factors significantly associated with HRQoL were: female gender; age > 50 years; having primary and secondary education; > 1 year since HIV diagnosis; HIV serostatus AIDS-converted; higher CD 4 T lymphocytes count; detectable viral load; and increased time to ART.
CONCLUSIONS: The current findings have shown that PLWHA in Pakistan adherent to ART had a good overall HRQoL, though with significantly higher depression. Some of the factors identified are amenable to institution-based interventions while mitigating depression to enhance the HRQoL of PLWHA in Pakistan. The HRQoL determined in this study could be useful for future economic evaluation studies for ART and in designing future interventions.