Failure of chronic hydroxychloroquine in preventing severe complications of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic diseases

Objective To compare baseline characteristics, clinical presentations and outcomes of patients with rheumatic conditions requiring hospitalization for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who received chronic HCQ with those who did not receive chronic HCQ. Methods We identified all patients with a rheumatologic disease who were admitted with COVID-19 to two hospitals in New York City between 3 March 3 and 30 April 2020. Patients who received chronic HCQ prior to admission were matched 1:2 (±10 years of age) with patients who did not receive chronic HCQ. We compared demographics, comorbidities, HCQ dosages, concurrent medications, presentations and outcomes between the groups. Results There were 14 patients receiving HCQ and 28 matched control subjects. The median age of cases was 63 years [interquartile range (IQR) 43–73) and 60 years (IQR 41–75) for controls. Control subjects had a higher prevalence of pulmonary diseases (42.8%), diabetes (35.7%) and obesity (35.7%) than their case counterparts (28.6%, 14.3% and 7.1%, respectively). A higher proportion of cases than control subjects (50% vs 25%) reported the use of prednisone for their rheumatic conditions prior to admission. Despite these differences in baseline characteristics, univariate logistic regression revealed no statistically significant differences in the need for mechanical ventilation [OR 1.5 (95% CI 0.34, 6.38)] or in-hospital mortality [OR 0.77 (95% CI 0.13, 4.56)]. Conclusion HCQ therapy in individuals with rheumatic conditions was not associated with less severe presentations of COVID-19 among hospitalized patients compared with individuals with rheumatic conditions not receiving HCQ.