Abstract
Background The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic concern care in many clinical areas, including cardiology. We aim to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital care for cardiac patients.
Methods Scoping review. Performance indicators were extracted and collated to inform on changes in the use of health services and care provided during January - June 2020.
Results Database searches yielded 6277 articles, of which 838 articles met the inclusion criteria during initial screening. After full-text screening, 94 articles were considered for data extraction. In total, 1637 indicators were retrieved, showing large variation in the indicators and their definitions. Most of the indicators that provided information on changes in number of admissions (n=118, 88%) signalled a decrease in admissions; 88% (n=15) of the indicators showed patients’ delayed presentation and 40% (n=54) showed patients in a worse clinical condition. A reduction in diagnostic and treatment procedures was signalled by 95% (n=18) and 81% (n=64) of the indicators reporting on cardiac procedures, respectively. Length of stay decreased in 58% (n=21) of the indicators and acute coronary syndromes treatment times increased in 61% (n=65) of the indicators. Outpatient activity decreased in 94% (n=17) of the indicators related with outpatient care, whereas telehealth utilization increased in 100% (n=6). Outcomes worsened in 40% (n=35) of the indicators, and mortality rates increased in 52% (n=31).
Conclusion All phases of the hospital cardiac care pathway were affected. This information could support the planning of care during the ongoing pandemic and in future events.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The participation of OBF occurred within a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (HealthPros, Healthcare Performance Intelligence Professionals) that has received funding from the European Union s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nr. 765141 (https://healthpros-h2020.eu).
Author Declarations
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Yes
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I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
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Footnotes
↵* Co-first authors
Introduction and discussion updated; Supplemental files updated - Supplementary material S5 to present the Characteristics each study included in the review, and from which indicators were extracted and collated, and Supplementary material S6 to present the number of indicators and indicators trends by country.
Data Availability
All data produced are available online in Zenodo.org, at https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5745755.