P259 INCIDENCE OF HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR HEART FAILURE DURING THE COVID–19 PANDEMIC IN PATIENTS FOLLOWED BY THE VULTURE ALTO BRADANO (VAB) HEART FAILURE OUTPATIENT CLINIC

Abstract

PurposePatients hospitalized for heart failure (HF) often have worse prognoses than patients who avoid hospital care. It is well known that during the first wave of the COVID–19 pandemic, in all specialty branches there was a reduction in planned hospitalizations to make room for COVID–19 patients and it happened that patients often did not access care for fear of infection. The Heart Failure Outpatient Clinic of the VAB never stopped its activity during the pandemic and continued to follow patients both with telephone counseling and with scheduled visits following the government‘s anti–Covid regulations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of hospitalizations for heart failure in Basilicata and in the VAB area during the Covid 19 pandemic.Methods and ResultsHospitalization data for HF from the Basilicata Region database and the database of patients followed by the HF outpatient clinic of the VAB were searched and compared. In 2019, hospitalizations for DRG 127 across Basilicata were 1865; in 2020, they were 1329, a reduction of approximately 27% since the start of the pandemic. In contrast, in the VAB, hospitalizations went from No. 294 in 2019, to No. 203 at the end of 2020 with a decrease of about 31%. In the same period, deaths from all causes observed among patients followed at the VAB outpatient clinic remained unchanged (N°35 in 2019, N°34 in 2020).ConclusionsAs for other Italian realities, also in Basilicata the incidence of hospitalizations for HF during the pandemic, decreased and more consistently in the area of the VAB. It is likely that this reduction is not only due to a reduction in admissions for fear of contagion, but also to the constant support that the medical and nursing staff of the dedicated outpatient clinic managed to maintain. This shows that the management of heart failure must be based on the constant monitoring of symptoms and clinical signs at the outpatient level, firstly to anticipate instabilization and improve the outcome and prognosis of patients, and secondly to help avoid the collapse of hospital facilities already particularly busy during this pandemic.