Risk of cardiovascular events following COVID-19 in people with and without pre-existing chronic respiratory disease

Abstract

Abstract Background COVID-19 is associated with cardiovascular outcomes in the general population, but it is unknown whether people with chronic respiratory disease (CRD) have a higher risk of cardiovascular events post-COVID-19 compared with the general population and, if so, what respiratory-related factors may modify this risk in these people. Methods Primary and secondary care data from the National Health Service England were used to define a population of adults in England with COVID-19 (index date) between 1 January 2020 and 30 November 2021. Adjusted Cox proportional hazard regression was used to quantify the association between CRD, asthma-related factors, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-related factors, and risk of cardiovascular events. Asthma-specific factors included baseline asthma control, exacerbations, and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) dose. COPD-specific risk factors included baseline ICS and exacerbations. Secondary objectives quantified the impact of COVID-19 hospitalisation and vaccine dose on cardiovascular outcomes. Results Of 3 670 455 people, those with CRD had a higher risk of cardiovascular events [adjusted hazard ratio (HRadj), 1.08; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06–1.11], heart failure (HRadj, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.12–1.22), angina (HRadj, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.06–1.20) and pulmonary emboli (HRadj, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.15–1.33) compared with people without CRD. In people with asthma or COPD, baseline exacerbations were associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular outcomes (HRadj, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.27–1.00 and HRadj, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.24–1.46, respectively). Regardless of CRD, the risk of cardiovascular events was lower with increasing COVID-19 vaccine dose. Conclusions Higher risk of cardiovascular events post-COVID-19 might be explained by the underlying severity of the CRD, and COVID-19 vaccines were beneficial to both people with and those without CRD with regards to cardiovascualr events.