Antihypertensive Medications and COVID-19 Diagnosis and Mortality: Population-based Case-Control Analysis in the United Kingdom

Objectives: To evaluate antihypertensive medications and COVID-19 diagnosis and mortality, accounting for healthcare seeking behaviour. Design: A population-based case control study with additional cohort analysis. Setting: Primary care patients from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Participants: 16 866 patients with COVID-19 events in the CPRD from 29th January to June 25th 2020 and 70 137 matched controls. Main outcome measures: We explored associations between COVID-19 diagnosis and prescriptions for angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), beta-blockers (B), calcium-channel blockers (C), thiazide diuretics (D) and other antihypertensive drugs (O). We evaluated all-cause mortality among COVID-19 cases. Analyses were adjusted for covariates and consultation frequency. Results: In covariate adjusted analyses, ACEIs were associated with lower odds of COVID-19 diagnosis (0.82, 95% confidence interval 0.77 to 0.88) as were ARBs, 0.87 (0.80 to 0.95) with little attenuation from adjustment for consultation frequency. In fully adjusted analyses, C and D were also associated with lower odds of COVID-19. Increased odds of COVID-19 for B (1.19, 1.12 to 1.26), were attenuated after adjustment for consultation frequency (1.01, 0.95 to 1.08). In adjusted analyses, patients treated with ACEIs or ARBs had similar mortality to patients treated with classes B, C, D or O (1.00, 0.83 to 1.20) or patients receiving no antihypertensive therapy (0.99, 0.83 to 1.18). Conclusions: Associations were sensitive to adjustment for confounding and healthcare seeking, but 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.