Metformin use and decreased risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes in a real-world case-control study
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Metformin use has been associated with a lower risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. The aim of our study was thus to evaluate the effect of metformin use via a population-based study. We conducted a case-control study with real-world data, analysing: (i) risk of hospitalisation, with cases being subjects admitted to hospital with a PCR+ test and controls without a PCR+; (ii) risk of disease progression, including all subjects with a PCR+ test, with cases being hospitalised and controls non-hospitalised subjects; and (iii) risk of susceptibility among subjects with a PCR+ test versus those without a PCR+. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated. Our study covered 81,348 subjects. Of these, 29,568 had a PCR+ test, 2753 of whom were admitted to hospital. According to our results, prior metformin use reduces the risk of hospitalisation (aOR 0.70; 95%CI 0.51–0.97) and progression of COVID-19 (aOR 0.66; 95%CI 0.45–0.98) among metformin users when compared with those not taking antidiabetic medication. There were no differences in risk of susceptibility to the SARS-CoV-2 virus (aOR 0.97; 95%CI 0.81–1.16). The results of this large-scale real-world study suggest that by reducing the risk of progression, metformin could provide an appropriate treatment option for combating the advance of COVID-19 to severe outcomes.
Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Almudena Rodríguez-Fernández, Maruxa Zapata-Cachafeiro, Rosa M. García-Álvarez, Irene Visos-Varela, María Piñeiro-Lamas, M. Teresa Herdeiro, Ángel Salgado-Barreira, Adolfo Figueiras, Rosendo Bugarín-González, Eduardo Carracedo-Martínez, Francisco J. González-Barcala, Martina Lema-Oreiro, Narmeen Mallah, Samuel Pintos-Rodríguez, Maria Piñeiro-Lamas, Manuel Portela-Romero, Angela Prieto-Campo, Almudena Rodriguez-Fernández, Marc Sáez, Margarita Taracido-Trunk
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,690
OpenAlex ID: W7212236753
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