Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on admission trends, diagnosis patterns, and demographics of ischemic heart disease patients: a retrospective study.

Abstract

Background and aim: Regarding the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the significance of controlling its spread and also due to the knowledge of the type of demographic characteristics during the Covid outbreak, investigating the cases affected by this condition in the course of its outbreak helps handle multiple critical situations.

Methods: This retrospective study with a cross-sectional analytical research design was conducted on the statistical population of all admitted patients during the study period with the primary diagnosis of IHD, admitted to Dr. Heshmat Teaching Hospital in Rasht, Gilan Province, Iran, from early February to late April 2020. The samples were selected using the convenience sampling technique through a census, the medical records, and the information completed according to the data collection form. The data analysis was performed using the SPSS Statistics (ver.16.0) software. All the statistical tests were also two-tailed, considering the significance level 0.05.

Results: In the COVID-19 period group, there were more females (45.4% vs. 40.2%, P = 0.019) as well as older patients (62 [IQR 53-71] vs. 61 [IQR 53-70], P = 0.048) compared to the pre-COVID-19 period group. In general, the proportion of patients with current smoking (13.0% vs. 24.4%, P < 0.000), opium consumption (7.2% vs. 14.7%, P < 0.000), and alcohol consumption (0.8% vs. 2.7%, P < 0.001) was lower in the COVID-19 period group compared to the pre-COVID-19 period group.The study findings revealed that the frequency of daily admissions after the COVID-19 peak outbreaks had been significantly higher as compared to those before the pandemic (17.5 [IQR 13.25-22] vs. 12 [IQR 8-19.75], p < 0.001). As well, the in-hospital mortality rates during COVID-19 had been significantly higher than those in 2019, before this condition (4.8% vs. 2.4%, p = 0.004).

Conclusion: Given the increasing number of patients admitted during the COVID-19 period, clinical care of patients with IHD, as well as its management and outcomes, becomes more important. It was suggested that these patients be educated about telephone and online services.