Echoes of the Pandemic: Cardiovascular Disease Developments in the Mexican Population, One Year Post-COVID-19

Objectives. To evaluate the prevalence, hospitalization rates, and mortality among patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and comorbidities one year after the lifting of pandemic measures in Mexico. Methods. Clinical data from an open national public health database were divided into two timeframes: pandemic (2020–2022) and post-pandemic (May 2023–May 2024), following the removal of COVID-19 countermeasures. Entries were categorized by age group and the presence of specific comorbidities, including hypertension (HT), diabetes (DIAB), obesity (OBES), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), asthma (AA), smoking (SMOKE), and COVID-19, as well as recorded deaths. Binary regression analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of these comorbidities on the type of care provided (hospitalization or ambulatory care) and their role as potential mortality predictors. Results. Approximately seven out of ten CVD patients were aged 50 years or older. In the year following the pandemic, the rates of cases and hospitalizations increased, while death rates decreased. Additionally, the prevalence of comorbidities rose among all CVD patients. Although, obesity was not a significant predictor of hospitalization in either period. Hypertension, diabetes, obesity, asthma, and COVID-19 were not associated with mortality in the post-pandemic period. Conclusion One year after the lifting of COVID-19 measures, cases, hospitalizations, and comorbidities among CVD patients increased, while mortality declined. Obesity was no longer a key determinant of care type, and HT, DIAB, OBES, AA, and COVID-19 ceased to predict mortality. The post-pandemic rise in HT and DIAB cases likely results from both the physiological effects of infection and indirect factors like lifestyle changes and healthcare disruptions. Notably, while hospitalizations have increased, mortality has noticeably decreased, likely due to vaccination efforts, reduced viral virulence, and diminished fear of COVID-19.