Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases in a large Brazilian urban center

Abstract

Introduction:The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on the behavior of individuals and the organization of health systems. This study analyzed the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on public hospitalizations for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in a large city in Brazil, Belo Horizonte, MG, with approximately 2.5 million inhabitants. Methods: In a time-series analysis, this study used administrative data from the national "Hospital Information System" from 2010 to February 2020 to estimate the expected number of hospitalizations for CVD by month during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belo Horizonte in 2020 using the Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average model. For CVD, this study compared the expected number of hospital admissions, intensive care use, deaths during hospitalization, and mean length of stay with the observed number during the period. Results: There were 6,517 hospitalizations for CVD from March to December 2020, a decrease of 16.3% (95% CI: 4.7-25.3) compared to the projected. The number of intensive care hospitalizations for CVD fell 24.1% (95% CI 13-32.7). The number of deaths also decreased (17.4% [80% CI: 0 -0.30]), along with the reduction in hospitalizations, as did the length of stay for CVD hospitalizations. These reductions, however, were not significant. Conclusions: Hospitalizations for CVD were 16.3% lower than expected in a large Brazilian city, possibly due to the fear of getting infected or going to hospitals. Public campaigns informing how to proceed in case of CVD show that prompt urgent attention is essential to mitigate the indirect effects of the pandemic on CVD.

Transformation of chronic disease management: Before and after the COVID-19 outbreak

“…A survey conducted in the United States indicated that more than half of patients with chronic conditions felt that their lifestyles and routines, including medical plans, had been altered significantly (33). In Belo Horizonte, a major city in Brazil, the hospitalization rate for patients with cardiovascular diseases decreased by 16.3% from March to December 2020 in contrast to expectations (34). Similarly, 17.7% of patients with chronic diseases who participated in a survey in Japan canceled their face-to-face visits and experienced a shortage of drugs in April and May of 2020 (35).…”