A propensity score‐matching analysis of angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker exposure on in‐hospital mortality in patients with acute respiratory failure

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To explore the impact of pre‐hospital ACEI and ARB exposure on the prognosis of ARF patients. DESIGN: A single‐center retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care‐III (MIMIC‐III) database. PATIENTS: The patients meeting ICD‐9 code of acute respiratory failure were enrolled. INTERVENTION: The primary exposure was the pre‐hospital exposure of ACEI and ARB. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome was in‐hospital mortality. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the independent effect of ACEI/ARB exposure on mortality. Propensity score matching (PSM) method was adopted to reduce bias of the confounders. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were used to test the stability of the conclusion. 5335 adult ARF patients were enrolled. Mortality was significantly decreased in patients with ACEI/ARB exposure before and after PSM, and the adjusted odds ratio (OR) of ACEI/ARB exposure was 0.56 (95% CI 0.43–0.72). In the subgroup analysis, ACEI/ARB lost its protective effect in young subgroup, but no significant interaction was found between ACEI/ARB exposure and age (p = 0.082). The point estimation and lower 95% limit of E‐value was 2.97 and 2.12. In sensitivity analysis, ACEI/ARB exposure showed similar effect in ARDS cohort, but no significantly difference was found in the MIMIC‐IV database, which may be explained by small sample size of the ACEI/ARB group. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with acute respiratory failure, pre‐hospital ACEI/ARB exposure was associated with better outcomes and acted as an independent factor. The relationship between ACEI/ARB and prognosis of ARF is worth investigating further.