Immediate Fracture Risk After Antihypertensive Drug Initiation

Summary

This retrospective observational study aims to evaluate the short-term fracture risk associated with anti-hypertensive medication initiation using a self-controlled case series (SCCS) design and investigate temporal trends of initial anti-hypertensive regimen (monotherapy vs combination therapy) and subsequent fracture incidence. The investigators use the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment (HIRA) database to identify adults aged ≥65 with a new prescription for anti-hypertensive therapy and at least one incident non-traumatic fracture.

In the SCCS analysis, the investigators estimate the within-person incidence rate of overall fractures during the 30-day period following anti-hypertensive initiation compared to control periods. Temporal trends will be recorded through 2013 - 2022.

The primary outcome is overall non-traumatic fracture occurrence; the secondary outcome is incident proximal hip fracture. These outcomes are defined using diagnostic and procedural codes validated for use in claims data. This study aims to quantify both the immediate temporal association between treatment initiation and fracture risk, and the comparative safety of different initial anti-hypertensive regimens.

Conditions

• Hypertension
• Fracture

Interventions

DRUG

Monotherapy

Antihypertensive medications, regardless of dose or formulation, will be classified by their pharmacologic class. A total of eight drug classes will be considered: angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), beta-blockers, dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (DHP-CCBs), non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (non-DHP-CCBs), loop diuretics, thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics, and potassium-sparing diuretics. Exposure groups will be defined as follows: * Monotherapy: prescription of a single antihypertensive drug class on the index date. * Dual therapy: prescription of two ore more antihypertensive drug classes on the same index date. To qualify for group assignment, all drugs must be initiated on the same day, and the drug of interest is limited to the class described in group/cohort. Out of the two, this intervention will be monotherapy.

DRUG

Combination therapy

Antihypertensive medications, regardless of dose or formulation, will be classified by their pharmacologic class. A total of eight drug classes will be considered: angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), beta-blockers, dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (DHP-CCBs), non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers (non-DHP-CCBs), loop diuretics, thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics, and potassium-sparing diuretics. Exposure groups will be defined as follows: * Monotherapy: prescription of a single antihypertensive drug class on the index date. * Dual therapy: prescription of two or more antihypertensive drug classes on the same index date. To qualify for group assignment, all drugs must be initiated on the same day, and the drug of interest is limited to the class described in group/cohort. Out of the two, this intervention will be combination therapy.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ajou University School of Medicine

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Rae Woong Park, M.D., Ph.D. · Department of Biomedical Informatics, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea

Eligibility

Min Age

50 Years

Max Age

100 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-06-01

Primary Completion

2025-07-28

Completion

2025-07-31