Browsing by Author "Casiraghi, Elena"

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    Metformin is associated with reduced COVID-19 severity in patients with prediabetes
    Chan, Lauren E.; Casiraghi, Elena; Laraway, Bryan; Coleman, Ben; Blau, Hannah; Zaman, Adnin; Harris, Nomi L.; Wilkins, Kenneth; Antony, Blessy; Gargano, Michael; Valentini, Giorgio; Sahner, David; Haendel, Melissa; Robinson, Peter N.; Bramante, Carolyn; Reese, Justin (Elsevier, 2022-12)
    Aims: Studies suggest that metformin is associated with reduced COVID-19 severity in individuals with diabetes compared to other antihyperglycemics. We assessed if metformin is associated with reduced incidence of severe COVID-19 for patients with prediabetes or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), common diseases that increase the risk of severe COVID-19. Methods: This observational, retrospective study utilized EHR data from 52 hospitals for COVID-19 patients with PCOS or prediabetes treated with metformin or levothyroxine/ondansetron (controls). After balancing via inverse probability score weighting, associations with COVID-19 severity were assessed by logistic regression. Results: In the prediabetes cohort, when compared to levothyroxine, metformin was associated with a significantly lower incidence of COVID-19 with "mild-ED" or worse (OR [95% CI]: 0.636, [0.455-0.888]) and "moderate" or worse severity (0.493 [0.339-0.718]). Compared to ondansetron, metformin was associated with lower incidence of "mild-ED" or worse severity (0.039 [0.026-0.057]), "moderate" or worse (0.045 [0.03-0.069]), "severe" or worse (0.183 [0.077-0.431]), and "mortality/hospice" (0.223 [0.071-0.694]). For PCOS, metformin showed no significant differences in severity compared to levothyroxine, but was associated with a significantly lower incidence of "mild-ED" or worse (0.101 [0.061-0.166]), and "moderate" or worse (0.094 [0.049-0.18]) COVID-19 outcome compared to ondansetron. Conclusions: Metformin use is associated with less severe COVID-19 in patients with prediabetes or PCOS.