Association between hypertension and prognosis of patients with COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

To investigate the association between hypertension and clinical outcomes, including in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and invasive ventilation in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia.We implemented a systematic search of PubMed for articles that assessed clinical outcomes of hypertensive patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The primary outcomes evaluated included: in-hospital mortality, ICU admission, and the use of invasive ventilation.A total of 18 studies were included, involving 13,293 patients and covering from January 25, 2020, to April 20, 2020. The relationship between hypertension and prognosis in COVID-19 patients was evaluated. Results showed that hypertension was a risk factor for in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients (RR: 2.20, 95% CI, 1.83-2.65, P < .001). Moreover, patients with hypertension were more likely to be admitted to ICU (RR: 1.86, 95% CI, 1.13-3.07, P = .001) and to use invasive ventilation (RR: 2.99, 95% CI, 1.73-5.17, P < .001).Among COVID-19 patients, those combined with hypertension had a significantly higher risk of in-hospital deaths, admission to ICU, and need for invasive ventilation.