Asthma and risk of cardiovascular disease or all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have demonstrated that asthma might be associated with an increase in cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death. However, this relationship differs by gender.

OBJECTIVES

To systematically evaluate the association of asthma on the incidence of CVD and death in cohort studies.

DESIGN

Fixed and random effects models were used to calculate risk estimates in a meta-analysis. Potential publication bias was calculated using a funnel plot, Begg's rank correlation test, and Egger's linear regression test.

SEARCH STRATEGY

We searched the PubMed and Embase databases for studies that examined the relationship between asthma and CVD or all-cause mortality.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Prospective and retrospective cohort studies.

RESULTS

Ten studies containing 406 426 participants were included. The summary relative risk (95% confi-dence interval, CI) for patients with asthma was 1.33 (95% CI: 1.15-1.53), for CVD in women, it was 1.55 (95% CI: 1.20-2.00), for CVD in men it was 1.20 (95% CI: 0.92-1.56), and for all-cause mortality in both genders it was 1.36 (95% CI: 1.01-1.83). These findings remained consistent after sensitivity analysis.

CONCLUSION

The results indicate that asthma was associated with an increased risk of CVD and all-cause mortality.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER

Systematic review was not registered.