1. Antihypertensive medications and COVID‐19 diagnosis and mortality: Population‐based case‐control analysis in the United Kingdom
- Author
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Emma Rezel-Potts, Martin Gulliford, Abdel Douiri, and Phil Chowienczyk
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Population ,Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors ,030226 pharmacology & pharmacy ,SARS‐CoV‐2 ,antihypertensive treatment ,Odds ,Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists ,03 medical and health sciences ,COVID-19 Testing ,angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors ,0302 clinical medicine ,COVID‐19 ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,Pharmacology (medical) ,030212 general & internal medicine ,education ,Antihypertensive Agents ,Thiazide ,Pharmacology ,education.field_of_study ,SARS-CoV-2 ,business.industry ,COVID-19 ,Original Articles ,clinical practice research datalink ,Odds ratio ,Confidence interval ,angiotensin receptor blockers ,Case-Control Studies ,Hypertension ,Case control analysis ,Original Article ,renin‐angiotensin‐aldosterone system inhibitors ,Angiotensin Receptor Blockers ,business ,medicine.drug - Abstract
AIMS: Antihypertensive drugs have been implicated in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) susceptibility and severity, but estimated associations may be susceptible to bias. We aimed to evaluate antihypertensive medications and COVID-19 diagnosis and mortality, accounting for healthcare-seeking behaviour. METHODS: A population-based case-control study was conducted including 16 866 COVID-19 cases and 70 137 matched controls from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. We evaluated all-cause mortality among COVID-19 cases. Exposures were angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), beta-blockers (B), calcium-channel blockers (C), thiazide diuretics (D) and other antihypertensive drugs (O). Analyses were adjusted for covariates and consultation frequency. RESULTS: ACEIs were associated with lower odds of COVID-19 diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.77-0.88) as were ARBs (AOR 0.87, 95% CI 0.80-0.95) with little attenuation from adjustment for consultation frequency. C and D were also associated with lower odds of COVID-19 diagnosis. Increased odds of COVID-19 for B (AOR 1.19, 95% CI 1.12-1.26) were attenuated after adjustment for consultation frequency (AOR 1.01, 95% CI 0.95-1.08). Patients treated with ACEIs or ARBs had similar odds of mortality (AOR 1.00, 95% CI 0.83-1.20) to patients treated with classes B, C, D or O or patients receiving no antihypertensive therapy (AOR 0.99, 95% CI 0.83-1.18). CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence that antihypertensive therapy is associated with increased risk of COVID-19 diagnosis or mortality; most classes of antihypertensive therapy showed negative associations with COVID-19 diagnosis.
- Published
- 2021
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