Introduction
Arterial Hypertension (HT) has been described as a common comorbidity and independent risk factor of short-term outcome in COVID-19 patients. However, data regarding the risk of new-onset HT during the post-acute phase of COVID-19 are scant.
Aim
We assess the risk of new-onset HT in COVID-19 survivors within one year from the index infection by a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available data.
Methods
Data were obtained searching MEDLINE and Scopus for all studies published at any time up to February 11, 2023, and reporting the long-term risk of new-onset HT in COVID-19 survivors. Risk data were pooled using the Mantel–Haenszel random effects models with Hazard ratio (HR) as the effect measure with 95% confidence interval (CI). Heterogeneity among studies was assessed using I
2
statistic.
Results
Overall, 19,293,346 patients (mean age 54.6 years, 54.6% males) were included in this analysis. Of them, 758,698 survived to COVID-19 infection. Over a mean follow-up of 6.8 months, new-onset HT occurred to 12.7 [95% CI 11.4–13.5] out of 1000 patients survived to COVID-19 infection compared to 8.17 [95% CI 7.34–8.53] out of 1000 control subjects. Pooled analysis revealed that recovered COVID-19 patients presented an increased risk of new-onset HT (HR 1.70, 95% CI 1.46–1.97, p < 0.0001, I
2
= 78.9%) within seven months. This risk was directly influenced by age (p = 0.001), female sex (p = 0.03) and cancer (p < 0.0001) while an indirect association was observed using the follow-up length as moderator (p < 0.0001).
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that new-onset HT represents an important post-acute COVID-19 sequelae.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40292-023-00574-5.