effects of interferon beta-1 and dexamethasone on the treatment of hospitalized covid-19 patients

Aims: despite the urgent need to treat the covid-19 pandemic, no effective treatment has been identified to date. the present study aimed to compare the effects of interferon beta-1 and dexamethasone on the treatment of hospitalized covid-19 patients.materials & methods: this phase 2, open-label, randomized trial examined adult patients who were admitted to hospitals in yasuj, iran, from october 2021 to may 2022 due to covid-19. patients were randomly assigned to intervention group 1 (88 patients), which included remdesivir, interferon beta-1, and dexamethasone, and intervention group 2 (88 patients), which included remdesivir and dexamethasone, in a ratio of 1:1. the mean arterial blood o2 saturation and length of hospitalization for both groups were compared.findings: the two groups did not show a significant difference in terms of demographic characteristics and disease-related parameters at baseline (p>0.05). the mean o2 saturation at the time of discharge for group 1 (90.14±10.72) and group 2 (92.54±3.19) demonstrated a significant difference (p<0.05). the mean length of hospitalization for group 1 (7.02±2.56) and group 2 (5.73±2.04) was significantly different (p<0.01). there was a significant difference between the number of deaths in group 1 (7 patients) and group 2 (0 patients; p<0.01).conclusion: the administration of remdesivir and dexamethasone, compared to remdesivir, dexamethasone, and interferon, results in a decreased length of hospitalization, reduced mortality, and improved o2 saturation.