Effects of Different Therapeutic Schedules on Patients with COVID-19: A Prospective Case–Control Study in China

Abstract

Background and Aims. At present, a targeted drug has not been found for patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study assessed the effects of different therapeutic schedules on patients with COVID-19. Methods. The clinical characteristics, the prognosis of patients with western medicine (WM) treatment, and the combination of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine (TCM-WM) treatment were retrospectively explored from January 20, 2020 to February 20, 2021. Results. 19 patients (15.20%) and 7 patients (5.60%) in the WM treatment group developed into severe type and critically ill, which were higher than 5 patients (9.43%) and 0 patients (0.00%) in the TCM-WM treatment group ( $p=0.306$ and $p=0.08$ ). The time from admission to severe in the WM treatment group was significantly shorter than that of the TCM-WM treatment group (7.5 vs. 11.2, $p<0.001$ ). Compared with patients in the TCM-WM treatment group, the average stay time and the negative nucleic acid time of patients in the WM treatment group were both significantly longer (both $p<0.05$ ). Besides, there existed no statistical difference for the safety of the two treatment options and nucleic acid test positive 14 days after discharge between the two groups. In line with the performance for severe patients, the average stay, the nucleic acid negative time, and the days of hormone therapy in the WM treatment group were all significantly longer than that of the TCM-WM treatment group (32.5 vs. 18.8, $p<0.001$ ; 24.5 vs. 14.5, $p<0.001$ ; 6.5 vs. 3.0, $p<0.001$ ). Conclusions. TCM-WM has better performance in both the disease progression and treatment of severe patients. We recommended that timely TCM-WM should be treated with patients with COVID-19.