Abstract
Introduction: There is uncertainty about the role of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the development of asthma in women.
Aims: To investigate whether the use of HRT, its subtypes, and duration of use are associated with the risk of developing new-onset asthma in peri- and post-menopausal women.
Methods: We used the Optimum Patient Care Research Database, a longitudinal, de-identified primary care database from across the UK, to construct an open cohort of 46-70-year-old women (N=353,173), followed for 17 years (1/1/2000–31/12/2016). The study exposures (HRT use), potential confounding variables, and outcomes (asthma onset) were defined using the Read Clinical Classification System. We fitted multilevel Cox regression models to the data, adjusting for several confounding factors.
Results: During the 17-year follow-up (1,340,423 person-years), 7,614 new asthma cases occurred (incidence rate 5.7; 95%CI 5.5-5.8 per 1,000 person-years). Compared to non-use, previous use of any (hazard ratio [HR] 0.83; 95%CI 0.76-0.88), estrogen/progestogen combined (HR 0.82; 95%CI 0.76-0.88), and estrogen-only HRT (HR 0.89; 95%CI 0.84-0.95) was associated with a reduced risk of new-onset asthma. For current HRT use, results were: any (HR 0.79; 95%CI 0.74-0.85), combined (HR 0.78; 95%CI 0.70-0.87), and estrogen-only HRT (HR 0.80; 95%CI 0.73-0.87). Longer duration of use (1-2 years: HR 0.93; 95%CI 0.87-0.99; 3-4 years: HR 0.77; 95%CI 0.70-0.84; 5+ years: HR 0.71; 95%CI 0.64-0.78) was associated with lower risk of asthma onset than non-use.
Conclusions: HRT use was associated with a reduced risk in developing late-onset asthma in women.
Aims: To investigate whether the use of HRT, its subtypes, and duration of use are associated with the risk of developing new-onset asthma in peri- and post-menopausal women.
Methods: We used the Optimum Patient Care Research Database, a longitudinal, de-identified primary care database from across the UK, to construct an open cohort of 46-70-year-old women (N=353,173), followed for 17 years (1/1/2000–31/12/2016). The study exposures (HRT use), potential confounding variables, and outcomes (asthma onset) were defined using the Read Clinical Classification System. We fitted multilevel Cox regression models to the data, adjusting for several confounding factors.
Results: During the 17-year follow-up (1,340,423 person-years), 7,614 new asthma cases occurred (incidence rate 5.7; 95%CI 5.5-5.8 per 1,000 person-years). Compared to non-use, previous use of any (hazard ratio [HR] 0.83; 95%CI 0.76-0.88), estrogen/progestogen combined (HR 0.82; 95%CI 0.76-0.88), and estrogen-only HRT (HR 0.89; 95%CI 0.84-0.95) was associated with a reduced risk of new-onset asthma. For current HRT use, results were: any (HR 0.79; 95%CI 0.74-0.85), combined (HR 0.78; 95%CI 0.70-0.87), and estrogen-only HRT (HR 0.80; 95%CI 0.73-0.87). Longer duration of use (1-2 years: HR 0.93; 95%CI 0.87-0.99; 3-4 years: HR 0.77; 95%CI 0.70-0.84; 5+ years: HR 0.71; 95%CI 0.64-0.78) was associated with lower risk of asthma onset than non-use.
Conclusions: HRT use was associated with a reduced risk in developing late-onset asthma in women.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2613 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Journal | European Respiratory Journal |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue number | 64 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 7 Sept 2020 |