The effect of hypertension and antihypertensive therapies on the course of COVID-19 infection: Turkish national health system data

Özkan G., ULUSOY Ş., ERDEM Y., ALTUN B., Yılmaz R., Ata N., ...More

Clinical and Experimental Hypertension, vol.44, no.6, pp.502-506, 2022 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 44 Issue: 6
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/10641963.2022.2071923
  • Journal Name: Clinical and Experimental Hypertension
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, MEDLINE, Veterinary Science Database
  • Page Numbers: pp.502-506
  • Keywords: Hypertension, COVID-19, antihypertensive, mortality, RAAS blocker, OUTCOMES
  • Karadeniz Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

© 2022 Taylor & Francis.Aim: The effect of hypertension (HT) and antihypertensive therapies such as renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers on the disease course in COVID-19 patients is controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of HT and antihypertensive therapies on the course of COVID-19 disease. Method: The age, sex, comorbid diseases, and antihypertensive therapies of 132,790 patients with positive COVID-19 real-time transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests in the Turkish Health Ministry National COVID-19 database between 11 March and 31 May 2020, were examined and analyzed. Results: Forty-one percent of the 132,790 patients in this study (median age: 40, 47.3% female) were hospitalized for treatment, and 4.5% were followed-up in the intensive care unit (ICU). The most frequent comorbid disease, at 19.5%, was HT (n = 25,863). Mortality was determined in 4.9% of HT patients and 1.9% of non-HT patients (p < .001). HT, age, and male gender emerged as independent predictors of hospitalization and admission to the ICU, while HT was not a predictor of mortality. In addition, no adverse effect of any antihypertensive treatment, including RAAS inhibitors, on mortality was detected. Conclusion: Based on Turkish national data, HT is common in COVID-19 patients, but does not appear to be an independent predictor of mortality, and no adverse effect of RAAS inhibitors on COVID-19-related mortality was observed.