Influenza Vaccination and Risk of Stroke in Women With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Nationwide, Population-Based, Propensity-Matched Cohort Study

Backgrounds: The risk of stroke is higher among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than among the healthy population. Moreover, women generally have worse long-term stroke outcomes than men.

Methods: The data of 6681 women with COPD (aged ≥ 65 years) registered in Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database were retrospectively analyzed from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2011. After 1:1 propensity score matching, the patients were divided into vaccinated and unvaccinated groups.

Results: In total, 5102 women were enrolled. The vaccinated group had a significantly lower risk of total, hemorrhagic, and ischemic stroke than the unvaccinated group (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54-0.67; aHR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.43-0.83; and aHR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.52-0.68, respectively). A lower risk of stroke was observed among the women aged 65-74 and ≥75 years, and the association was dose-dependent in all types of stroke (aHR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.92-1.26; aHR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.60-0.82; and aHR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.26-0.38 for those vaccinated 1, 2 to 3, and ≥4 times, respectively, during the follow-up period). Women with a CHADS-VASc score (conditions and characteristics included congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, vascular disease, age, and sex) of 2-3 and ≥4 had a significantly lower risk of ischemic stroke while receiving more vaccinations. A smaller significant lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke after more than 4 times of vaccination was noted in the women with a CHADS-VASc score of ≥4. Both interrupted and non-interrupted vaccination was associated with lower risk of stroke occurrence.

Conclusion: Influenza vaccination is associated with a lower risk of total, hemorrhagic, and ischemic stroke among women with COPD, and the association is dose-dependent. However, the findings may be limited by unmeasurable confounders. Further investigations on this subject are warranted.