Effectiveness and quality analysis of methods in studies for the treatment of COVID-19

Abstract

Purpose COVID-19 has spread and continues to spread rapidly across the world. There is still no approved and effective treatment for the disease. Several drugs are being administered empirically to patients, based on results from studies with limited methodologies. There is an urgent need for systematic reviews to support decision makers and the development of guidelines. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review of drug studies carried out worldwide for COVID-19, verifying the effectiveness and methodological quality. Method The search for relevant articles was performed in the Cochrane Central, MEDLINE, and Embase databases. The terms and combinations used for the search were ((

Efficacy of tocilizumab in the treatment of COVID‐19: An umbrella review

“…One article was not accessible and thus it was excluded. 19 After evaluating the other 92 articles for eligibility, 42 were excluded for the following reasons: one study investigated tocilizumab combined with another IL‐6 inhibitor, 20 two discussed therapies other than tocilizumab, 21 , 22 37 were not systematic reviews, 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 and two were systematic reviews of preclinical or animal studies. 60 , 61 Finally, 50 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the present umbrella review 6 , 28 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ,…”