Effect of statin on mortality in diabetic patients with COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Context: It seems that the threat of death increases among diabetic patients with coronavirus infection disease-2019 (COVID-19). Statins have anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombogenic properties along with lowering blood cholesterol. Therefore, statins could be considered as an important factor in reducing the mortality rates in diabetic patients with COVID-19. This systematic review and meta-analysis study was performed to investigate the effect of statin on mortality in diabetic patients with COVID-19. Evidence Acquisition: This study was done based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched from December 2019 until the end of September 2022. Meta-analysis was used by the comprehensive meta-analysis software to combine the results. A funnel plot and Egger’s regression test were used to investigate the publication bias. Results: Six studies were included in the meta-analysis. Nine thousand five hundred and thirty-three diabetic patients with COVID-19 were studied. The heterogeneity between studies was significant. According to the meta-analysis, using the random-effects model, we found that the rate of mortality due to COVID-19 in diabetic patients who used statins was 9% lower than other patients. Publication bias between studies included in the meta-analysis was not significant. Conclusions: In this study, there was no significant difference between the mortality rates of diabetic people with COVID-19 who used statins and individuals who did not consume statins – this difference was just 9%. Therefore, it could be said that more clinical trials are needed to ensure the clinical efficacy of statins among diabetic patients with COVID-19.