Association between Antihypertensive Therapy and Risk of Acute Lower Respiratory Infections (ALRI): A Retrospective Cohort Study

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the association between antihypertensive drugs and the incidence of acute lower respiratory infections in patients treated in general practices in Germany. Methods: After propensity score matching of five antihypertensive drug classes, a total of 377,470 patients aged ≥18 years were available for analysis. The association between each antihypertensive drug class and ALRI incidence as compared to all other antihypertensive drug classes (as a group) was studied using conditional Cox regression analyses. Because of multiple comparisons and large patient samples, findings were clinically considered relevant when the hazard ratio was <0.85 or >1.15. Results: The regression analyses applied found no clinically relevant associations between antihypertensive drugs and the incidence of acute lower respiratory infections, as all hazard ratios were between 0.85 and 1.15. Conclusion: In the present study, only slight and not clinically relevant increases or decreases in the ALRI incidence were observed. Additional studies are necessary to further explore the risks associated with antihypertensive agents that are widely embedded in today’s clinical practice.