Calcifediol Treatment and Hospital Mortality Due to COVID-19: A Cohort Study.

Abstract

Calcifediol has been proposed as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients. To compare the administration or not of oral calcifediol on mortality risk of patients hospitalized because of COVID-19. Retrospective, multicenter, open, non-randomized cohort study. Hospitalized care. Patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between 5 February and 5 May 2020 in five hospitals in the South of Spain. Patients received calcifediol (25-hydroxyvitamin D3) treatment (0.266 mg/capsule, 2 capsules on entry and then one capsule on day 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28) or not. In-hospital mortality during the first 30 days after admission. A total of 537 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 (317 males (59%), median age, 70 years), and 79 (14.7%) received calcifediol treatment. Overall, in-hospital mortality during the first 30 days was 17.5%. The OR of death for patients receiving calcifediol (mortality rate of 5%) was 0.22 (95% CI, 0.08 to 0.61) compared to patients not receiving such treatment (mortality rate of 20%; p 7 mmol/L, respiratory rate ≥ 30/min, systolic blood pressure Among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, treatment with calcifediol, compared with those not receiving calcifediol, was significantly associated with lower in-hospital mortality during the first 30 days. The observational design and sample size may limit the interpretation of these findings.