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Risk for cardiovascular diseases increases in patients with COPD

The risk for cardiovascular disease appeared to more than double in patients with COPD compared with patients without the disease, according to study results.

Wenjia Chen, a PhD candidate at University of British Columbia, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of studies in Cochrane, Medline and Embase to assess the magnitudes of association between overall and specific types of cardiovascular disease, major cardiovascular risk factors and COPD.

The analysis included 29 studies published between January 1980 and April 2015.

Patients with COPD had an increased risk for cardiovascular disease compared with patients without COPD (OR = 2.46; 95% CI, 2.02-3).

Patients with COPD also had a significantly greater risk for ischemic heart disease (OR = 2.28; 95% CI, 1.76-2.96).

The risk for cardiac dysrhythmia in patients with COPD nearly doubled (OR = 1.94; 95% CI, 1.55-2.43) and the risk for heart failure increased significantly in patients with COPD (OR = 2.57; 95% CI, 1.9-3.47).

Hypertension (OR = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.13-1.56), diabetes (OR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.21-1.53) and ever smoking (OR = 4.25; 95% CI, 3.23-5.6) occurred more often in patients with COPD than patients without the disease.

“These findings show the importance of raising awareness about the coexistence of COPD and cardiovascular risks and defining the best clinical and cost-effectiveness frameworks to screen and develop intervention strategies for cardiovascular risks in patients with COPD,” the researchers wrote. “Our findings can potentially support reassessment of the benefits of statins in high-risk populations, as recently suggested by [other research].” – by Ryan McDonald

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.