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Longitudinal Trends in Cardiovascular Risk Factor Profiles and Complications Among Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19
Eric J Hall1, Colby R Ayers1, Ahmed A Kolkailah1
1Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas (E.J.H., C.R.A., A.A.K., S.R.D., J.A.d.L.).
Insights
Cardiovascular disease complications from COVID-19 increased over time, despite younger patients and fewer pre-existing conditions. In-hospital mortality initially decreased but remained high throughout the pandemic.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has seen evolving viral variants, treatments, and vaccines.
- It remains unclear if cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and complications have changed during the pandemic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze temporal trends in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and outcomes among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
- To evaluate changes in in-hospital mortality and CVD complications over different pandemic phases.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the American Heart Association COVID-19 CVD registry (46,007 admissions).
- Data divided into 3-month epochs from April 2020 to December 2021.
- Risk-adjusted analyses using generalized linear mixed-effects models for mortality and CVD outcomes.
Main Results:
- Later pandemic patients were younger, more obese, and had less pre-existing CVD.
- The incidence of major cardiovascular outcomes (composite of cardiovascular death, shock, heart failure, stroke, MI) increased significantly over time (7.0% to 9.8%).
- In-hospital mortality declined from 20.8% to 10.8% but remained high from mid-2020 onwards.
Conclusions:
- Despite a younger demographic with fewer CVD risk factors, cardiovascular complications of COVID-19 increased through December 2021.
- All-cause mortality initially decreased but stabilized at a high level later in the pandemic.
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic has evolved through multiple phases characterized by new viral variants, vaccine development, and changes in therapies. It is unknown whether rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor profiles and complications have changed over time.
Methods:
We analyzed the American Heart Association COVID-19 CVD registry, a national multicenter registry of hospitalized adults with active COVID-19 infection. The time period from April 2020 to December 2021 was divided into 3-month epochs, with March 2020 analyzed separately as a potential outlier. Participating centers varied over the study period. Trends in all-cause in-hospital mortality, CVD risk factors, and in-hospital CVD outcomes, including a composite primary outcome of cardiovascular death, cardiogenic shock, new heart failure, stroke, and myocardial infarction, were evaluated across time epochs. Risk-adjusted analyses were performed using generalized linear mixed-effects models.
Results:
A total of 46 007 patient admissions from 134 hospitals were included (mean patient age 61.8 years, 53% male, 22% Black race). Patients admitted later in the pandemic were younger, more likely obese, and less likely to have existing CVD (Ptrend ≤0.001 for each). The incidence of the primary outcome increased from 7.0% in March 2020 to 9.8% in October to December 2021 (risk-adjusted Ptrend=0.006). This was driven by an increase in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction and stroke (Ptrend<0.0001 for each). The overall rate of in-hospital mortality was 14.2%, which declined over time (20.8% in March 2020 versus 10.8% in the last epoch; adjusted Ptrend<0.0001). When the analysis was restricted to July 2020 to December 2021, no temporal change in all-cause mortality was seen (adjusted Ptrend=0.63).
Conclusions:
Despite a shifting risk factor profile toward a younger population with lower rates of established CVD, the incidence of diagnosed cardiovascular complications of COVID increased from the onset of the pandemic through December 2021. All-cause mortality decreased during the initial months of the pandemic and thereafter remained consistently high through December 2021.
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