Early use of steroids seems not to reduce hospital length of stay for non-multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children with COVID-19, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Sandeep Tripathi, MD, from the Children’s Hospital of Illinois in Peoria, and colleagues examined whether use of steroids within two days of admission for non-multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children with COVID-19 is associated with hospital length of stay in a cohort study.

Data were provided by 58 hospitals in seven countries from March 2020 through September 2021; 1163 patients met the inclusion criteria.

The researchers found that 15.8% of the study population received steroids within two days of admission and 84.2% did not.