TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on delayed care of cardiovascular diseases in Europe
T2 - a systematic review
AU - Khan, Yasmine
AU - Verhaeghe, Nick
AU - Devleesschauwer, Brecht
AU - Cavillot, Lisa
AU - Gadeyne, Sylvie
AU - Pauwels, Nele
AU - Van den Borre, Laura
AU - De Smedt, Delphine
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge that the HELICON project received the grant (number: B2/202/P3/HELICON) by the Belgian Science Policy Office within the BRAIN-be 2.0 framework supporting pillar 3 Federal societal challenges. The grant was awarded to co-author B.D.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/11/1
Y1 - 2023/11/1
N2 - Aims Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted healthcare systems, causing delays in essential medical services, and potentially impacting CVD treatment. This study aims to estimate the impact of the pandemic on delayed CVD care in Europe by providing a systematic overview of the available evidence. Methods and results PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched until mid-September 2022 for studies focused on the impact of delayed CVD care due to the pandemic in Europe among adult patients. Outcomes were changes in hospital admissions, mortality rates, delays in seeking medical help after symptom onset, delays in treatment initiation, and change in the number of treatment procedures. We included 132 studies, of which all were observational retrospective. Results were presented in five disease groups: ischaemic heart diseases (IHD), cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), cardiac arrests (CA), heart failures (HF), and others, including broader CVD groups. There were significant decreases in hospital admissions for IHD, CVA, HF and urgent and elective cardiac procedures, and significant increases for CA. Mortality rates were higher for IHD and CVA. Conclusion The pandemic led to reduced acute CVD hospital admissions and increased mortality rates. Delays in seeking medical help were observed, while urgent and elective cardiac procedures decreased. Adequate resource allocation, clear guidelines on how to handle care during health crises, reduced delays, and healthy lifestyle promotion should be implemented. The long-term impact of pandemics on delayed CVD care, and the health-economic impact of COVID-19 should be further
AB - Aims Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted healthcare systems, causing delays in essential medical services, and potentially impacting CVD treatment. This study aims to estimate the impact of the pandemic on delayed CVD care in Europe by providing a systematic overview of the available evidence. Methods and results PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched until mid-September 2022 for studies focused on the impact of delayed CVD care due to the pandemic in Europe among adult patients. Outcomes were changes in hospital admissions, mortality rates, delays in seeking medical help after symptom onset, delays in treatment initiation, and change in the number of treatment procedures. We included 132 studies, of which all were observational retrospective. Results were presented in five disease groups: ischaemic heart diseases (IHD), cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), cardiac arrests (CA), heart failures (HF), and others, including broader CVD groups. There were significant decreases in hospital admissions for IHD, CVA, HF and urgent and elective cardiac procedures, and significant increases for CA. Mortality rates were higher for IHD and CVA. Conclusion The pandemic led to reduced acute CVD hospital admissions and increased mortality rates. Delays in seeking medical help were observed, while urgent and elective cardiac procedures decreased. Adequate resource allocation, clear guidelines on how to handle care during health crises, reduced delays, and healthy lifestyle promotion should be implemented. The long-term impact of pandemics on delayed CVD care, and the health-economic impact of COVID-19 should be further
KW - Cardiovascular diseases
KW - COVID-19
KW - Delayed care
KW - Europe
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85177493693&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/ehjqcco/qcad051
DO - 10.1093/ehjqcco/qcad051
M3 - Article
C2 - 37667483
AN - SCOPUS:85177493693
VL - 9
SP - 647
EP - 661
JO - European heart journal. Quality of care & clinical outcomes
JF - European heart journal. Quality of care & clinical outcomes
SN - 2058-5225
IS - 7
ER -