Rheumatic disease patients on HCQ had a lower risk of COVID-19 than those on other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, OR 0.09 (0.01–0.94),
p=0.044 after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, systemic lupus erythematosus, infection in other family members, and comorbidities. 43 patients with rheumatic disease and COVID-19 exposure.
Zhong et al., 7/3/2020, retrospective, database analysis, China, Asia, peer-reviewed, 20 authors.
risk of COVID-19 case, 91.0% lower, RR 0.09, p = 0.04, treatment 7 of 16 (43.8%), control 20 of 27 (74.1%), adjusted per study.
Effect extraction follows pre-specified rules prioritizing more serious
outcomes. For an individual study the most serious outcome may have a smaller
number of events and lower statistical signficance, however this provides the
strongest evidence for the most serious outcomes when combining the results of
many trials.