Trend in Hospital Admissions for Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) before and during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Retrospective analysis from a Sub-urban area in sub-Saharan Africa

Background The COVID-19 pandemic was a global public concern and constitute a future threat to the world population due to its indirect effect on the burden of non-communicable diseases. The pandemic manifested disruptions in health care delivery and access. However, there is limited data in Sub-Saharan Africa on the impact of the COVID-19 on cardiovascular disease (CVD) admissions and outcomes. Objectives To compare the trends of CVD admissions and outcome before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. Methods We carried out a retrospective study of patients suffering from CVDs admitted from March 11 2018 to March 11 2020 (Pre-COVID-19 pandemic period) and from March 11 2020 to March 11 2022 (COVID-19 pandemic period). A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results There were 483 admissions due to CVDs during the COVID-19 pandemic period and 518 during the pre-COVID-19 period. There was no significant difference in mean age before (57.97 ± 15.6 years) and during the pandemic (59.74 ± 16.1years) (P = 0.44).There was also no significant change in the proportion of males and females during and before the pandemic: males (21, 4% and 24.8%), and females (26.8% and 27%), (P = 0.28). There was a downward secular trend with random variation of the number of CVDs admissions during the COVID-19 period when compared with the corresponding pre-COVID period which had an upward trend. Rates of admissions of Acute Myocardial infarction decreased the most (22.2%), and pericardial disease increased the most (14.3%) during the first wave of the pandemic. The in-hospital mortality increased by 2.4% and there was no change in median length of hospital stay (p = 0.936). Conclusion This study provides evidence of a decreasing tendency in admissions due to CVDs during COVID-19 Pandemic at the BRH, and its effects varied among the different types of CVDs. The in-hospital mortality of CVDs increased during the pandemic.