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. 2022 Nov 17;2022(11):CD014963. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD014963.pub2

2. Characteristics of the included studies for the comparison: systemic corticosteroids versus placebo or standard care for hospitalised individuals with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of symptomatic COVID‐19.

Study ID Intervention and regimen Hydrocortisone equivalent of initial dose: for 80 kg bodyweight if applicable (Stoelting 2006) Control Randomised to corticosteroids Randomised to control Study design Place of residence (World Bank 2021) and recruitment period Age Sex (% female) Population/disease severity at randomisation on WHO Clinical Progression Scale (Marshall 2020)
Angus 2020 Hydrocortisone, IV, 150 mg daily for 7 days 150 mg/d Standard care 143 (fixed‐dose) and 152 (shock‐dependent dose)a 108

  • Platform

  • Open‐label

  • Multicentre

 High‐income country
(Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA)
between March and June 2020		 Mean (years, SD)

  • Fixed‐dose intervention group: 60.4 (11.6)

  • Shock‐dependent intervention group: 59.5 (12.7)

  • Control group: 59.9 (14.6)

  • Fixed‐dose intervention group: 39 (28.5%)

  • Shock‐dependent intervention group: 43 (29.5%)

  • Control group: 29 (28.7%)

 Severe ≥ 6
Corral‐Gudino 2021 Methylprednisolone, IV 80 mg for 3 days + 40 mg for 3 days 400 mg/d Standard care 35 29

  • Open‐label

  • Multicentre

 High‐income country
(Spain)
between April and May 2020		 Mean (years, SD)

  • Intervention group: 73 (11)

  • Control group: 66 (12)

  • Intervention group: 11 (32%)

  • Control group: 13 (45%)

 Moderate to severe 5 to 6
Dequin 2020 Hydrocortisone, IV 200 mg for 7 days, 100 mg for 4 days + 50 mg for 3 days 200 mg/d Placebo 76 73

  • Double‐blind

  • Multicentre

 High‐income country
(France)
between March and June 2020		 Median (years, IQR)

  • Intervention group: 63.1 (51.5 to 70.8)

  • Control group: 66.3 (53.5 to 72.7)

  • Intervention group: 22 (28.9%)

  • Control group: 23 (31.5%)

 Moderate to severe ≥ 5
Edalatifard 2020 Methylprednisolone, IV, 250 mg for 3 days 1250 mg/d Standard care 34 34  

  • Multicentre

 Middle‐income country
(Iran)
between March and May 2020		 Mean (years, SD)

  • Intervention group: 55.8 (16.35)

  • Control group: 61.7 (16.62)

  • Intervention group: 10 (29.4%)

  • Control group: 13 (46.4%)

 Moderate to severe 5 to 6
Farahani 2021 Methylprednisolone, IV 1000 mg/d for 3 days + tapering with 1 mg/kg prednisolone for 10 days 5000 mg/d Standard care 14 15

  • Open‐label

  • Single‐centre

 Middle‐income country
(Iran)
between March and May 2020		 Mean (years, SD):

  • Intervention group: 61.07 (12.83)

  • Control group: 66.80  (14.03)

  • Intervention group: 4 (28.6%)

  • Control group: 6 (40%)

 Moderate to severe 5 to 6
Horby 2021 Dexamethasone, IV or oral 6 mg daily for 10 days 150 mg/d Standard care 2104 4321

  • Platform

  • Open‐label

  • Multi‐centre

 High‐income country
(United Kingdom)
between May and June 2020		 Mean (years, SD):

  • Intervention group: 66.9 (15.4)

  • Control group: 65.8 (15.8)

  • Intervention group: 766 (36%)

  • Control group: 1572 (36%)

 Moderate to severe 4 to 9
Jamaati 2021 Dexamethasone, IV, 20 mg for 5 days + 10 mg for 5 days 500 mg/d Standard care 25 25
 

  • Open‐label

  • Single‐centre

 Middle‐income country
(Iran)
in March 2020		 Median (years, IQR)

  • Intervention group survivor: 54 (37 to 63)

  • Intervention group non‐survivor: 63 (55.5 to 72.5)

  • Control group survivor: 61.5 (54 to 62)

  • Control group non‐survivor: 67 (48 to 73)

  • Intervention group: 7 (28%)

  • Control group: 7 (28%)

 Most likely moderate 5; no IMV at randomisation
Jeronimo 2020 Methylprednisolone (as sodium succinate), IV 1 mg/kg for 5 days 400 mg/d Placebo 209 207
 

  • Double‐blind

  • Single‐centre

 Middle‐income country
(Brazil)
between April and June 2020		 Mean (years, SD)

  • Intervention group: 54 (15)

  • Control group: 57 (15)

  • Intervention group: 68 (35.1%)

  • Control group: 71 (35.7%)

 Moderate to severe 5 to 9
Munch 2021a Hydrocortisone, IV, 200 mg per day, for 7 days or until hospital discharge 200 mg/d Placebo 16 14

  • Triple‐blind

  • Multicentre

 High‐income country
(Denmark)
between April and June 2020		 Median (years, IQR)

  • Intervention group: 59 (52 to 74)

  • Control group: 62 (55 to 71)

  • Intervention group: 2 (12%)

  • Control group: 4 (29%)

 Severe ≥ 6
Tang 2021 Methylprednisolone, IV, 1 mg/kg for 7 days 400 mg/d Placebo 43 43

  • Single‐blind

  • Multicentre

 Middle‐income country
(China)
between February and March 2020		 Median (years, IQR)

  • Intervention group: 57 (49 to 67)

  • Control group: 55 (38 to 65)

  • Intervention group: 22 (51.2%)

  • Control group: 23 (53.5%)

 Moderate 4 to 5
Tomazini 2020 Dexamethasone, IV, 20 mg for 5 days + 10 mg for 5 days 500 mg/d Standard care 151 148
 

  • Open‐label

  • Multicentre

 Middle‐income country
(Brazil)
between April and June 2020		 Mean (years, SD)

  • Intervention group: 60.1 (15.8)

  • Control group: 62.7 (13.1)

  • Intervention group: 61 (40.4%)

  • Control group: 51 (34.5%)

 Severe 7 to 9
 
d: day;IMV: invasive mechanical ventilation; IV: intravenous; SD: standard deviation; IQR: interquartile range

a Shock‐dependent dose: shock‐dependent dosing strategy was that restricting hydrocortisone to the period when the patient had overt shock would maximise the risk‐benefit ratio. Shock was defined as the requirement for intravenous vasopressor infusion for the treatment of shock presumed due to COVID‐19. Hydrocortisone was discontinued in the shock‐dependent group once shock was considered to have resolved or vasopressors had been discontinued for 24 hours.