AUTHOR=Wang Sophie Y. , Seghieri Chiara , Vainieri Milena , Groene Oliver 

TITLE=Changes in Acute Myocardial Infarction, Stroke, and Heart Failure Hospitalizations During COVID-19 Pandemic in Tuscany—An Interrupted Time Series Study

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=67

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2022.1604319

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2022.1604319

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> We evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on unplanned hospitalization rates for patients without COVID-19, including their length of stay, and in-hospital mortality, overall, and for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke, and heart failure in the Tuscany region of Italy.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We carried out a population-based controlled interrupted time series study using segmented linear regression with an autoregressive error term based on admissions data from all public hospitals in Tuscany. The primary outcome measure was weekly hospitalization rates; secondary outcomes included length of stay, and in-hospital mortality.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The implementation of the pandemic-related mitigation measures and fear of infection was associated with large decreases in inpatient hospitalization rates overall (−182 [−234, −130]), unplanned hospitalization (−39 [−51, −26]), and for AMI (−1.32 [−1.98, −0.66]), stroke (−1.51 [−2.56, −0.44]), and heart failure (−8.7 [−11.1, −6.3]). Average length of stay and percent in-hospital mortality for select acute medical conditions did not change significantly.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> In Tuscany, Italy, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with large reductions in hospitalization rates overall, as well as for heart failure, and the time sensitive conditions of AMI and stroke during the months January to July 2020.</p>