Changes in incidence of hospitalization for cardiovascular diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Netherlands in 2020

Abstract

This population-based cohort study aimed to describe changes in incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) hospital diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Netherlands compared with the pre-pandemic period. We used Dutch nationwide statistics about hospitalizations to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRR) of hospital diagnoses of CVD during the first and second COVID-19 waves in The Netherlands in 2020 versus the same periods in 2019. Compared with 2019, the incidence rate of a hospital diagnosis of ischemic stroke (IRR 0.87; 95% CI 0.79–0.95), major bleeding (IRR 0.74; 95% CI 0.68–0.82), atrial fibrillation (IRR 0.73; 95% CI 0.65–0.82), myocardial infarction (IRR 0.78; 95% CI 0.72–0.84), and heart failure (IRR 0.74; 95% CI 0.65–0.85) declined during the first wave, but returned to pre-pandemic levels throughout 2020. However, the incidence rate of a hospital diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) increased during both the first and second wave in 2020 compared with 2019 (IRR 1.30; 95% CI 1.15–1.48 and IRR 1.31; 95% CI 1.19–1.44, respectively). In conclusion, we observed substantial declines in incidences of CVD during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Netherlands in 2020, especially during the first wave, with an exception for an increase in incidence of PE. This study contributes to quantifying the collateral damage of the COVID-19 pandemic.