Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out to examine the role of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment of COVID-19 Methods: We performed a systematic search in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, CochraneLibrary, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and medRxiv pre-print databases using available MeSH terms for COVID-19 and hydroxychloroquine Data from all studies that focused on the effectiveness of HCQ with or without the addition of azithromycin (AZM) in confirmed COVID-19 patients, which were published up to 12 September 2020, were collated for analysis using CMA v 2 2 064 Results: Our systematic review retrieved 41 studies Among these, 37 studies including 45,913 participants fulfilled the criteria for subsequent meta-analysis The data showed no significant difference in treatment efficacy between the HCQ and control groups (RR: 1 02, 95% CI, 0 81-1 27) Combination of HCQ with AZM also did not lead to improved treatment outcomes (RR: 1 26, 95% CI, 0 91-1 74) Furthermore, the mortality difference was not significant, neither in HCQ treatment group (RR: 0 86, 95% CI, 0 71-1 03) nor in HCQ plus AZM treatment group (RR: 1 28, 95% CI, 0 76-2 14) in comparison to controls Meta-regression analysis showed that age was the factor that significantly affected mortality (P&lt;0 00001) Conclusion: The meta-analysis found that there was no clinical benefit of using either HCQ by itself or in combination with AZM for the treatment of COVID-19 patients Hence, it may be prudent for clinicians and researchers to focus on other therapeutic options that may show greater promise in this disease
The Role of Hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis