Results
At least 32 individual observational studies have evaluated the
effectiveness of outpatient statin treatment on the outcomes of COVID-19
patients admitted to hospital (supplementary information). These studies
have used a variety of methods to reach different conclusions about the
effectiveness of treatment. Seventeen reports conclude that statins
reduce the occurrence of severe disease (e.g., ICU admission) or
mortality. S1-S17 Nine reports conclude that statins
might not be effective, but at least they are not harmful.S18-S26 Six others conclude that statin treatment is
actually associated with harm.S27-S32 Seven
meta-analyses of these studies (based largely on outpatient information)
provide varying estimates of statin
effectiveness.S33-S39 In contrast, eight observational
studies show that in-hospital statin treatment is uniformly effective in
reducing COVID-19 mortality (Table 1).S40-S47
None of the individual studies based on outpatient-documented treatment
has mentioned the possibility of statin withdrawal after hospital
admission. Moreover, none of the seven meta-analyses and only one of
eight studies of in-hospital statin treatment has cited any reference on
the detrimental effects of statin withdrawal.