Retrospective Clinical Study on the Intervention of Angong Niuhuang Pills in Patients Infected with COVID-19
Objective:To analyze the correlation between the use of Angong Niuhuang Pills(ANP)and severe outcomes in patients infected with COVID-19.Methods:A case-control study design was employed,and data such as patients'basic information,traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome differentiation,treatment details involving ANP,and disease progression were collected.The outcome variable was defined as whether or not the pa-tient developed severe illness.Binary unconditional stepwise logistic regression was used to analyze the correlation between ANP administration,timing of ANP use,and severe disease outcomes.Results:A total of 156 cases were included,all diagnosed with Yingfen and Xuefen syndromes presenting with fever symptoms.After propensity score matching,35 cases were in the ANP treatment group and 35 in the non-treatment group.Logistic analysis did not reveal a significant correlation between ANP usage and severe outcomes(P=0.330).However,further anal-ysis of the association between different timings of ANP administration and severe outcomes suggested a potential impact of timing(P=0.002),with patients who received ANP after the onset of Yingfen and Xuefen syndromes hav-ing a 9.308 times higher risk of developing severe illness compared to those treated before the onset.Conclusion:Early intervention with ANP in CO VID-19 infection may reduce the risk of disease progression to severe stages.