Statin Use Is Associated with a Decreased Risk of Mortality among Patients with COVID-19

Wu, Chieh-Chen; Lee, An-Jen; Su, Chun-Hsien; Huang, Chu-Ya; Islam, Md. Mohaimenul; Weng, Yung-Ching

Background: Recent epidemiological studies remain controversial regarding the association between statin use and reducing the risk of mortality among individuals with COVID-19. Objective: The objective of this study was to clarify the association between statin use and the risk of mortality among patients with COVID-19. Methods: We conducted a systematic articles search of online databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science) between 1 February 2020 and 20 February 2021, with no restriction on language. The following search terms were used: “Statins” and “COVID-19 mortality or COVID19 mortality or SARS-CoV-2 related mortality”. Two authors individually examined all articles and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for study inclusion and exclusion. The overall risk ratio (RRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to show the strength of the association and the heterogeneity among the studies was presented Q and I(2) statistic. Results: Twenty-eight studies were assessed for eligibility and 22 studies met the inclusion criteria. Statin use was associated with a significantly decreased risk of mortality among patients with COVID-19 (RR (adjusted) = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.57–0.72, p < 0.001). Moreover, statin use both before and after the admission was associated with lowering the risk of mortality among the COVID-19 patients (RR (adjusted;) (before) = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.56–0.84, p < 0.001 and RR (adjusted;) (after) = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.54–0.60, p < 0.001). Conclusion: This comprehensive study showed that statin use is associated with a decreased risk of mortality among individuals with COVID-19. A randomized control trial is needed to confirm and refute the association between them.