Table 1.
Characteristics of the included trials
| Study | Publication status, registration no | No of participants | Country | Mean age (years) | Men (%) | Type of care, comorbidities | Severity (according to study authors) | Mechanical ventilation at baseline (%) | Treatments (dose and duration) | Outcomes |
| Beigel 2020; ACTT-122 | Published, NCT04280705 | 1062 | USA, Denmark, UK, Greece, Germany, Korea, Mexico, Spain, Japan, Singapore | 58.9 | 64.4 | Inpatient; coronary artery disease (11.9%); congestive heart failure (5.6%); diabetes (30.6%); hypertension (50.7%); asthma (11.4%); chronic oxygen requirement (2.2%); chronic respiratory disease (7.6%) | Severe (90.1%) | 45.0 | Remdesivir (200 mg/day for 1 day, then 100 mg/day for 9 days); placebo | Acute kidney injury; cognitive dysfunction/delirium |
| Cao 2020; LOTUS China23 | Published, ChiCTR2000029308 | 199 | China | 58.0 | 60.3 | Inpatient; cerebrovascular disease (6.5%); diabetes (11.6%) | Severe (100%) | 16.1 | Lopinavir-ritonavir (400 mg and 100 mg two times daily for 14 days); standard care | Acute kidney injury; diarrhoea; nausea and/or vomiting; fatigue |
| Cavalcanti, 202024 | Published, NCT04322123 | 667 | Brazil | 50.3 | 58.4 | Inpatient; intensive care (13.8%); heart failure (1.5%); diabetes (19.1%); hypertension (38.3%); asthma (6.0%); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1.8%) | Mild/Moderate (100%) | 0 | Hydroxychloroquine (400 mg two times daily for 7 days); hydroxychloroquine (400 mg twice daily for 7 days) and azithromycin (500 mg/day for 7 days); standard care | Cardiac toxicity; nausea and/or vomiting |
| Chen 202025 | Preprint, ChiCTR2000029559 | 62 | China | 44.7 | 46.8 | Inpatient; NR | Mild/moderate (100%) | NR | Hydroxychloroquine (200 mg two times daily for 5 days); standard care | Cardiac toxicity |
| Chen 202026 | Published, NCT04261517 | 30 | China | 48.6 | 70.0 | Inpatient; diabetes (6.7%); hypertension (26.7%); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (3.3%) | Mild/moderate (100%) | NR | Hydroxychloroquine (400 mg/day for 5 days); standard care | Diarrhoea; nausea /vomiting |
| Chen 202027 | Preprint, ChiCTR2000030054 | 48 | China | 46.9 | 45.8 | Inpatient; diabetes (18.8%); hypertension (16.7%) | Mild/moderate (100%) | NR | Chloroquine (1000 /day for 1 day, then 500 mg/day for 9 days); hydroxychloroquine (200 mg two times daily for 10 days); standard care | Cardiac toxicity; diarrhoea; nausea and/or vomiting |
| Chen 202028 | Preprint, NCT04384380 | 33 | Taiwan | 32.9 | 57.6 | Inpatient | Mild/Moderate (100%) | 0 | Hydroxychloroquine (400 mg two times daily for 1 day, then 200 mg two times daily for 6 days); standard care | Diarrhoea; nausea and/or vomiting |
| Horby 2020; RECOVERY29 | Published, NCT04381936 | 4716 | UK | 65.3 | 62.2 | Inpatient; heart disease (25.7%); diabetes (27.2%); chronic lung disease (22.2%); tuberculosis (0.3%) | NR | 16.8 | Hydroxychloroquine (800 mg at zero and 6 hours, then 400 mg two times daily for 9 days); standard care | Cardiac toxicity |
| Huang 202030 | Published, ChiCTR2000029387 | 101 | China | 42.5 | 45.5 | Inpatient | Mild/moderate (100%) | NR | Ribavirin (400–600 mg three times daily for 14 days) and interferon-alfa (5 mg two times daily for 14 days); lopinavir-ritonavir (400 mg and 100 mg two times daily for 14 days) and interferon-alfa (5 mg two times daily for 14 days); ribavirin (400–600 mg three times daily for 14 days) and lopinavir-ritonavir (400 mg and 100 mg two times daily for 14 days) and interferon-alfa (5 mg two times daily for 14 days) | Acute Kidney injury; diarrhoea; nausea and/or vomiting |
| Li 2020; ELACOI31 | Published, NCT04252885 | 86 | China | 49.4 | 46.5 | Inpatient; cardiovascular disease (2.3%); diabetes (2.3%); hypertension (10.5%) | Mild/moderate (100%) | 0 | Lopinavir-ritonavir (400 mg and 100 mg two times daily for 7 to 14 days); umifenovir (200 mg three times daily for 7–14 days); standard care | Diarrhoea; nausea and/or vomiting |
| Lyngbakken 202032 | Published, NCT04316377 | 53 | Norway | 62.0 | 66.0 | Inpatient; coronary heart disease (9.4%); diabetes (17.0%); hypertension (32.1%); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma (26.4%) | Mild/moderate (0%) | 0 | Hydroxychloroquine (400 mg two times daily for 7 days); standard care | Diarrhoea; nausea and/or vomiting |
| Skipper 202033 | Published, NCT04308668 | 491 | USA, Canada | 40.0 | 45.8 | Outpatient; cardiovascular disease (1.2%); diabetes (3.9%); hypertension (11.0%); asthma (10.4%); chronic lung disease (0.4%) | Mild/moderate (100%) | 0 | Hydroxychloroquine (800 mg at zero hours, then 600 mg 6–8 hours later, then 600 mg/day for 4 days); placebo | Cardiac toxicity; diarrhoea; nausea /vomiting; cognitive dysfunction/delirium |
| Tang 202034 | Published, ChiCTR2000029868 | 150 | China | 46.1 | 55.0 | Inpatient; diabetes (14.0%); hypertension (6.0%) | Mild/moderate (99.0%); severe (1.0%) | NR | Hydroxychloroquine (1200 mg/day for 3 days, then 800 mg/day until 14 to 21 days of total treatment); standard care | Cardiac toxicity; diarrhoea; nausea /vomiting; cognitive |
| Ulrich 2020; TEACH35 | Published, NCT04369742 | 128 | USA | 66.2 | 59.4 | Inpatient; non-hypertensive cardiovascular disease (25.6%); diabetes (32.0%); hypertension (57.8%); asthma (15.6%); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (7.0%) | Mild/moderate (0%) | 0.78 | Hydroxychloroquine (400 mg two times daily for 1 day, then 200 mg two times daily for 4 days); placebo | Cardiac toxicity |
| Wang 202036 | Published, NCT04257656 | 237 | China | 65.0 | 59.3 | Inpatient; cardiovascular disease (7.2%); diabetes (23.7%); hypertension (43.2%) | Severe (100%) | 16.1 | Remdesivir (200 mg/day for 1 day, then 100 mg/day for 9 days); placebo | Acute kidney injury |
| Zheng 202037 | Published, ChiCTR2000029496 | 89 | China | 46.7 | 47.2 | Inpatient; chronic bronchitis (2.0%) | Mild/moderate (94.4%); severe (5.6%) | NR | Novaferon (20 µg two times daily for 7–10 days); novaferon and lopinavir-ritonavir (400 mg and 100 mg two times daily for 7–10 days); lopinavir-ritonavir (400 mg and 100 mg twice daily for 7–10 days) | Diarrhoea; nausea and/or vomiting; fatigue |
NR, not reported.