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.