Table 1.
Characteristics of studies included in the systematic review.
| s/no | Author, (year) | Countries | Study period | Study design | Cases / Control [Exposed/unexposed] | Follow-up (years) | Reference group | Adjustments | Study quality |
| 1 | ∗Pahor, (1996) | USA | 1988–1992 | Cohort | 124/428 | 2 | BB | No | 7 |
| 2 | Jick, (1997) | UK | 1990–1995 | Case-Control | 85/422 | 4 | BB | No | 7 |
| 3 | Lever, (1998) | Scotland | 1980–1995 | Cohort | 1559/3648 | 6.6 | BB/CB/D | Yes | 6 |
| 4 | Rosenberg, (1998) | USA | 1983–1996 | Case/Control | 994/6492 | 3.8 | Hospital controls | No | 7 |
| 5 | Assimes, (2008) | Canada | 1980–2003 | Case/Control | 1507/15,070 | 3.6 | D | No | 7 |
| 6 | ONTARGET, (2008) | Multi-center | 2004–2004 | RCT | 8576/ 8542 | 4.7 | ARB | Yes | 9 |
| 7 | van der Knaap, (2008) | Netherlands | 1991–2004 | Cohort | 138/7541 | 9.6 | Healthy controls | Yes | 8 |
| 8 | Pasternak, (2011) | Denmark | 1998–2006 | Cohort | 209,692/107,466 | 2.1 | ARB | Yes | 8 |
| 9 | Azoulay, (2012) | UK | 1995–2010 | Cohort | 4200/39,668 | 6.4 | BB/D | Yes | 8 |
| 10 | Bhaskaran (2012) | UK | 1995–2010 | Cohort | 2144/360,679 | 4.6 | ARB | Yes | 8 |
| 11 | Hallas, (2012) | Denmark | 2000–2005 | Case-Control | 16,343/65281 | 2.7 | Healthy controls | Yes | 7 |
| 12 | ∗Chiang, (2014) | Taiwan | 2000–2009 | Cohort | 4971/ 24,855 | 2.36 | BB/CB/D | Yes | 6 |
| 13 | Hicks, (2018) | UK | 1995–2015 | Cohort | 208,353/16,027 | 6.4 | ARB | Yes | 8 |