The Effect of Metformin Consumption on Mortality in Hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Highlights

• Diabetes is unequivocally associated with poorer outcomes regarding COVID-19 disease.

• Preliminary findings showed that mortality was lowered in those who consume metformin vs. who did not.

• Thus, metformin is an attractive and potential regimen for mitigating excessive risk in diabetic populations.

• Our meta-analysis confirmed that in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, metformin consumption was associated with lower mortality.

Abstract

Background and aims

Diabetes is one of the most common comorbidities, and it is associated with poorer outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Preliminary findings showed that mortality was reduced in those who consume metformin compared to those who did not, and given its low cost and widespread availability; metformin is an attractive and potential agent to mitigate excessive risk in diabetic populations.

Methods

Several medical databases (Pubmed, EuropePMC, EBSCOhost, Proquest, Cochrane library) and two health-science preprint servers (preprint.org and Medrxiv) were systematically searched for relevant literature.

Results

Nine studies with 10,233 subjects were included in the qualitative and quantitative synthesis. Meta-analysis showed that metformin is associated with lower mortality in pooled non-adjusted model (OR 0.45 [0.25, 0.81], p = 0.008; I^2: 63.9%, p = 0.026) and pooled adjusted model (OR 0.64 [0.43, 0.97], p = 0.035; I²: 52.1%, p = 0.064).

Conclusion

The analysis showed that metformin consumption was associated with lower mortality. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm this finding.