Retrospective study focused on eosinophil recovery with 9,644 hospitalized patients in Spain, showing lower mortality for HCQ (14.7% vs 29.2%,
p<0.001), and AZ (15.3% vs. 18.4%,
p<0.001). With a multivariate model including potential confounding factors, HCQ and AZ are associated with lower mortality, HCQ OR 0.662,
p=0.057.
Gonzalez et al., 8/21/2020, retrospective, database analysis, Spain, Europe, preprint, 25 authors.
risk of death, 26.6% lower, RR 0.73, p = 0.06, treatment 1246 of 8476 (14.7%), control 341 of 1168 (29.2%), adjusted per study, odds ratio converted to relative risk.
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.