Declines in hospitalizations for acute cardiovascular conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicenter tertiary care experience.
Patients are delaying or forgoing necessary care due to concerns about COVID-19 transmission. This study analyzed inpatient discharges between January 2019 and March 2020 at one tertiary healthcare system to explore the trends in hospitalizations for acute cardiovascular conditions (e.g., chest pain, heart failure, stroke) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results showed that during the early months of the pandemic, there was a marked decline in hospitalizations for acute cardiovascular conditions and patients who were admitted had shorter lengths of stay, which may signal that acute care was deferred or abbreviated during the pandemic.