Impact of COVID-19 on hospitalization for heart failure: a perspective from Victoria, Australia

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare systems and possibly impacted the management of heart failure (HF). This study examined the impact of the pandemic on HF hospitalization activities, outcomes, and costs in Victoria, Australia.

Data on HF hospitalizations were acquired from the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset. All consecutive patients hospitalized for HF in both public and private hospitals in Victoria between February 2019 and March 2021 were extracted using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, Australian Modification. Data were analysed using descriptive analysis and interrupted time series analysis. A total of 85 564 completed admissions were identified, of which 45 080 were hospitalized in the pre-COVID-19 period and 40 484 were hospitalized in the COVID-19 impacted period. A higher average cost per completed admission in the COVID-19 impacted period was observed, while average length of stay (LOS) was not different between the two periods. It was revealed that monthly total LOS and hospitalization activity cost across all HF admissions dropped at the beginning of the pandemic and continued to decrease until the end of the observation period. However, these changes were not statistically significant.

The impacts of COVID-19 on HF hospitalization activities and associated outcomes at the beginning of the pandemic appeared relatively small and were not sustained. Further studies using other data (i.e. linkage data) are required to understand if, or how, the pandemic impacted on HF management in Australia, especially in the long COVID-19 era.