Mortalidade e hospitalização por doenças cardiovasculares durante a pandemia de COVID-19 no Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Background: The rapid expansion and lack of control of the COVID-19 pandemic caused major changes in the flow of care and an increase in mortality and lethality and a decrease in hospitalization for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been recognized worldwide. Thus, it is essential to estimate the impact of the pandemic on CVD in Rio Grande do Sul (RS). Objective: To assess the impact of the pandemic on the hospital admission rate (HI), hospital deaths (HO) and hospital lethality (HL) from CVD in RS. Methods: Observational time series study evaluating the rates of HI, HO and HL that occurred in RS from 2016 to 2020. In order to estimate the impact of the pandemic, the data from 2019 and 2020 were compared with each other and the estimate for 2020 estimated by linear regression. The statistical significance level was 0.05. Results: Compared to 2019, a reduction of 19.7% in HI and 11.5% in OH and an increase of 10.2% in LH due to CVD was recognized. In relation to the projected for 2020, the rates of IH, OH and LH also had considerable variations (p=0.002966, 0.002807 and 0.03762, respectively). Conclusions: An important increase in HL and a reduction in HI due to CVD was recognized in RS in 2020, demonstrating inadequate planning in the management of the pandemic and an important reduction in cardiovascular health care.