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Trends in outpatient visits and deaths due to congenital heart defects in Peru
Astrid Tauma-Arrué1,2, Samantha Chávez-Saldivar1,2, Juan Carlos Mego1,2
1Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Facultad de Medicina de San Fernando, Lima, Peru.
Insights
Congenital heart defects (CHD) outpatient visits increased significantly in Peru over 20 years, while mortality remained stable. Pediatric patients, especially young children, are most affected by CHD volume and mortality.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Public Health
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the most common birth defects, impacting ~1% of newborns and are a leading cause of congenital malformation deaths.
- The prevalence and burden of congenital heart defects (CHD) in Peru, a region with heterogeneous CHD prevalence, remain largely undocumented.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze trends in congenital heart defects (CHD) outpatient visits and mortality in Peru from 2000 to 2020.
- To examine variations in CHD trends based on sex, age, and altitude levels.
Main Methods:
- Secondary data analysis of congenital heart defects (CHD) outpatient visits and mortality.
- Utilized publicly available data from the Peruvian Ministry of Health national registries (2000-2020).
Main Results:
- A significant 20.4% increase in congenital heart defects (CHD) outpatient visits was observed over the study period.
- Pediatric patients, individuals at lower altitudes (≤2500m), and those in Peru's capital showed higher average outpatient visit rates.
- Congenital heart defects (CHD)-related mortality showed a slight annual increase of 0.31 per million population, with higher rates in pediatric patients, though not statistically significant overall.
Conclusions:
- Congenital heart defects (CHD) outpatient volume in Peru has risen substantially in the last two decades, while mortality rates have remained consistent.
- Children under ten years old represent the primary demographic affected by both outpatient congenital heart defects (CHD) volume and mortality.
Introduction:
Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the most frequent congenital birth defects, affecting approximately 1% of newborns and constituting the main cause of death among all congenital malformations. The prevalence of CHD in Andean America is heterogeneous and in Peru the burden of CHD is unknown.
Objective:
To describe the trends of CHD outpatient visits and mortality and their variation according to sex, age and altitude levels.
Methods:
We performed a secondary data analysis of CHD outpatient visits and mortality using publicly available information from the Peruvian Ministry of Health national registries from 2000 to 2020.
Results:
There was a statistically significant increase in CHD outpatient visits of 20.4 over time. Pediatric patients, those who lived at low altitude (≤2500 m above sea level) and those who lived in the capital of Peru had a higher average number of outpatient visits per 100 000 population. CHD-related mortality increased by 0.31 per million population per year. Although this trend was not statistically significant overall, pediatric patients experienced higher mortality than adults.
Conclusion:
In Peru, the outpatient CHD volume has increased significantly over the last two decades, however CHD-related mortality has remained constant. Children in the first decade of life are the predominant group in both, outpatient CHD volume and mortality.
