Influence of blood pressure control and application of renin‐angiotensin‐aldosterone system inhibitors on the outcomes in COVID‐19 patients with hypertension

Hypertension is proved to be associated with severity and mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). However, little is known about the effects of pre‐admission and/or in‐hospital antihypertension treatments on clinical outcomes. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the association between in‐hospital blood pressure (BP) control and COVID‐19–related outcomes and to compare the effects of different antihypertension treatments. This study included 2864 COVID‐19 patients and 1628 were hypertensive. Patients were grouped according to their BP during hospitalization and records of medication application. Patients with higher BP showed worse cardiac and renal functions and clinical outcomes. After adjustment, subjects with pre‐admission usage of renin‐angiotensin‐aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors (HR = 0.35, 95%CI 0.14‐0.86, P = .022) had a lower risk of adverse clinical outcomes, including death, acute respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, septic shock, mechanical ventilation, and intensive care unit admission. Particularly, hypertension patients receiving RAAS inhibitor treatment either before (HR = 0.35, 95%CI 0.13‐0.97, P = .043) or after (HR = 0.18, 95%CI 0.04‐0.86, P = .031) admission showed a significantly lower risk of adverse clinical outcomes than those receiving application of other antihypertensive medicines. Furthermore, consecutive application of RAAS inhibitors in COVID‐19 patients with hypertension showed better clinical outcomes (HR = 0.10, 95%CI 0.01‐0.83, P = .033) than non‐RAAS inhibitors users. We revealed that COVID‐19 patients with poor BP control during hospitalization had worse clinical outcomes. Compared with other antihypertension medicines, RAAS inhibitors were beneficial for improving clinical outcomes in COVID‐19 patients with hypertension. Our findings provide direct evidence to support the administration of RAAS inhibitors to COVID‐19 patients with hypertension before and after admission.