Research paper
Vitamin C Supplementation for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Study answer
What this study found
Vitamin C supplementation reduces hospital mortality in COVID-19, especially in randomized trials where in-hospital mortality was significantly lower with vitamin C (23.9% vs 35.8%; OR 0.44; p=0.003). One-month mortality was also lower in vitamin C groups (OR 0.48; p<0.001). Oral administration showed mortality benefit; intravenous did not reach significance. ICU length of stay tended to be longer with vitamin C, while overall hospital length of stay showed no difference. Acute kidney injury occurred less often with vitamin C (OR 0.56). Low-dose regimens were most effective and safe.…
- Study & population
- Adults (≥18 years) with COVID-19; mixed sexes; included both randomized controlled trials and non-randomized (prospective and retrospective) trials; English-language publications.
- Key limitation
- High heterogeneity across studies; mix of randomized and non-randomized designs; variable dosing, routes, and co-treatments; evolving standard of care; some studies used combination therapies; limited randomized trial data for certain outcomes.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), millions of people have died, and the medical system has faced significant difficulties. Our purpose was to …