Table 1.
Characteristics of the included studies
| Study ID | Mean age ± SD (male %) | HCQ arm (follow‐up) | Usual treatment that was given to all patients as required | Outcomes (combinable and not combinable) | Events HCQ (control) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chen et al 38 | HCQ: | 400 mg/d for 5 d (7 d) | O2 therapy, interferon‐alpha, lopinavir/ritonavir, antibiotics, and supportive treatment | Viral clearance | 13/15 (14/15) |
| 50.5 ± 3.8 (60%) | HCQ side effects | 4/15 (3/15) | |||
| Clinical progression | 1/15 (0/15) | ||||
| Control: | |||||
| 46.7 ± 3.6 (80%) | Radiological progression | 5/15 (7/15) | |||
| Barbosa et al 44 | HCQ: | 400 mg LD BID for 1‐2 d then 200‐400 mg/d for a total 5 d (7 d) | O2 therapy | Rate of intubation | 7/17 (2/21) |
| 59.76 ± 18.92 (46.9%) | Change in Respiratory | 0.76 ± 0.83 (0.24 ± 0.7) | |||
| Support level: mean ± SD | |||||
| Control: | |||||
| 64.00 ± 15.92 (71%) | Change in lymphocyte count | 0.8 ± 0.46 (1 ± 0.49) | |||
| Mortality | 2/17 (1/21) | ||||
| Gautret et al 43 | HCQ: | 200 mg TID for 10 d (14 d) | Symptomatic treatment and antibiotics | Viral clearance | 14/20 (2/16) |
| 51.2 ± 18.7 (45%) | Clinical progression | 3/26a (0/16) | |||
| Mortality | 1/26a (0/16) | ||||
| Control: | |||||
| 37.3 ± 24.0 (37.5%) | |||||
| Tang et al 37 | HCQ: | 1200 mg/d LD for 3 d, then 800 mg daily for 2‐3 wk (4 wk) | Some antiviral agents, antibiotics, and corticosteroids | Viral clearance | 60/70 (65/80) |
| 48.0 ± 14.1 (56%) | Disease progression | 1/70 (0/80) | |||
| Mortality | 0/70 (0/80) | ||||
| Control: | |||||
| 44.1 ± 15 | All adverse effects | 21/70 (7/80) | |||
| (53%) | |||||
| Chen et al 39 | HCQ: | 400 mg/d for 5 d (5 d) | O2 therapy, antiviral agents, antibacterial agents, and immunoglobulin, ±corticosteroids | Clinical progression | 0/31 (4/31) |
| 44.1 ± 16.1 (45.2%) | Radiological progression | 2/31 (9/31) | |||
| Control: | Radiological improvement | 25/31 (17/31) | |||
| 45.2 ± 14.7 (48.3%) | |||||
| Fever: days ± SD | 2.2 ± 0.4 (3.2 ± 1.3) | ||||
| Cough: days ± SD | 2 ± 0.2 (3.1 ± 1.5) | ||||
| Adverse effects | 2/31 (0/31) | ||||
| Mitjà et al 42 | HCQ: | 800 mg/d LD for 1 day, then 400 mg daily for 6 d | Usual care | Viral load reduction (log10 copies/mL): mean ± SE (day 3) | −1.41 ± 0.15 (−1.41 ± 0.14) |
| 41.6 ± 12.4 (27.9%) | |||||
| Viral load reduction (log10 copies/mL): mean ± SE (day 7) | −3.44 ± 0.19 (−3.37 ± 0.18) | ||||
| Control: | |||||
| 41.7 ± 12.6 (34.4%) | (28 d) | ||||
| Hospitalization | 8/136 (11/154) | ||||
| Adverse effects (absolute) | 282 (23) |
Abbreviations: BID, twice daily; HCQ, hydroxychloroquine; LD, loading dose; O2, oxygen; SD, standard deviation; SE, standard error; TID, trice daily.
a
Denominator is the initial sample size in HCQ arm.