A study published in the journal Hypertension suggests that discontinuation of at-home angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB), or β-blockers (BB) in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection was tied to an increased risk of mortality, while discontinuation of calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and diuretics was not associated with a greater mortality risk.

Overall, 1,584 patients were included in the retrospective cohort study. Around 57.70% of the patients reported use of antihypertensive medications at home - 26.37% were using ARBs, 33.81% were on ACE inhibitor therapy, 57.33% were taking BB, 33.37% were on CCBs, and 47.81% were taking diuretics. Of the total 914 patients who were on at-home antihypertensive medication, 270 discontinued it during hospitalization. Investigators noted that after adjusting for confounders including age, sex, and modified early warning score at admission, discontinuation of ARBs (odds ratio [OR] 2.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–6.04, P< 0.05), ACE inhibitors (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.15–4.54, P< 0.05) and BB (OR 3.60, 95% CI 1.10–10.27, P< 0.05) was linked with a heightened risk of death from COVID-19 infection. However, discontinuation of CCBs or diuretics was not tied to an increased mortality risk… (DG Alerts)