ChiCTR2000029386.

Study name	Effectiveness of glucocorticoid therapy in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019: protocol of a randomised controlled trial
Methods	Trial design: open‐label RCT Sample size: 48 Setting: inpatient Language: Chinese, English Number of centres: single‐centre Type of intervention (treatment/prevention): treatment
Participants	Inclusion criteria Aged ≥ 18 years Severe COVID‐19 Willing to give informed consent Exclusion criteria Allergic or intolerant to any therapeutic drugs used in this study Pregnant or lactating women Presence of severe systemic illness that may affect the effectiveness or safety evaluation for this study
Interventions	Details of intervention: Dose: methylprednisolone at a dose of 1 to 2 mg/kg/d for 3 days Route of administration: IV Treatment details of control group (e.g. dose, route of administration): no glucocorticoid use Concomitant therapy: no information
Outcomes	Primary study outcome Change in sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) at 3 days after randomisation Clinical improvement rate
Starting date	No information
Contact information	Dr. Yao‐Kai Chen, Division of Infectious Diseases, Chongqing Public Health Medical Center, Chongqing 400036, China  E‐Mail: yaokaichen@hotmail.com
Notes	Recruitment status: recruiting Prospective completion date: unclear Date last update was posted: 5 May 2020 Sponsor/funding: Chongqing Special Research Project for Prevention and Control of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia