Hospitalizations and mortality of patients with heart failure in the COVID-19 era in Peru

Abstract

ObjectivesThe worldwide heart failure (HF) prevalence is 8.52 per 1000 inhabitants, with a global economic burden of 346.17 billion dollars. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of medical care has changed to treating the morbidity and mortality of patients with COVID-19 and reducing medical procedures or visits to patients with HF, with the impact being greater in low- and middle-income countries. MethodsWe performed an interrupted time series analysis of HF to determine the changes in the trend of hospitalizations and in-hospital mortality of HF patients before and after the mandatory lockdown in Peru. ResultsA total of 18,514 adults were included in the analysis. Monthly hospital admissions immediately decreased by 599 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 113 to 1085) and the difference in slope before and after the lockdown was 6.4 hospital admissions (95% CI: −4 to 18). In-hospital mortality increased by 18% (95% CI: −8%–43%) and the difference in slope before and after the lockdown was −0.3% (95% CI: −0.9%–0.25%). ConclusionsThere was a reduction in hospitalizations and an increase in the in-hospital mortality of patients with HF before and after the mandatory lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.