[Association between mandatory lockdown due to COVID-19 and severe arterial hypertension]

On March 20, preventive and mandatory social isolation due to COVID-19 was implemented in Argentina. Since then, the importance of caring for cardiovascular diseases has been emphasized. The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to analyze the association between social isolation and severe arterial hypertension (systolic = 160 mmHg and / or diastolic = 100 mmHg) in the Emergency Service of the Hospital Universitario Fundación Favaloro. The study included patients older than 21 years, during the three months following (3/20/2020- 6/25/2020) and prior (12/13/2019 - 03/19/2020) to the implementation of the isolation and the respective interannual comparators: (21/03/2019 - 06/27/2019 and 12/14/2018 - 03/20/2019). The frequency of severe arterial hypertension was compared between the different periods by chi-square test. The association between isolation and severe arterial hypertension was analyzed using simple and multivariate logistic regression. The population studied consisted of 12 144 patients 57.4 ± 17 years old, 45.4% women. During the period after the lockdown implementation, 1634 patients were admitted, 53.8% less than in the pre-lockdown implementation period; 23.9%, in the post-lockdown period, registered severe arterial hypertension, significantly more than in the pre-lockdown period (15.5%) and in the interannual comparator (17.6%). Consultation during the lockdown period was associated with severe arterial hypertension in the simple model (odds ratio 1.58) and in the multivariate model (adjusted odds ratio 1.37). In conclusion, social isolation was associated with an increase in severe arterial hypertension in the Emergency Service, independently of biological factors (age, sex) and other potential confounders.