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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Cutoff Value of Phase Angle by Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis at Admission as a Prognostic Factor in Patients with Acute Heart Failure
05:16

Cutoff Value of Phase Angle by Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis at Admission as a Prognostic Factor in Patients with Acute Heart Failure

Published on: June 10, 2025

Health Care Use and Outcomes in Heart Failure: Are There Lingering Impacts From the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Finlay A McAlister1, Chuan Wen2, Jeffrey A Bakal2

  • 1Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Canadian VIGOUR Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Strategy for Patient Oriented Research Unit (AbSPORU), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

JACC. Advances
|July 10, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Post-COVID-19, heart failure (HF) patients experienced fewer hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits, with increased presentation severity. Non-COVID mortality rates remained consistent with pre-pandemic trends.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on heart failure (HF) patient care remain unclear.
  • Understanding these impacts is crucial for optimizing future healthcare strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate changes in healthcare utilization and outcomes for patients with heart failure (HF) from March 2018 to May 2024.
  • To assess residual impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on HF patient management and outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective cohort study utilizing interrupted time series (ITS) analysis.
  • Compared monthly rates of mortality, hospitalizations, and emergency department (ED) visits for HF patients across pre-pandemic, intra-pandemic, and post-pandemic periods.
  • Adjusted for demographic factors, comorbidities, seasonality, and pre-pandemic trends.

Main Results:

  • Patients with HF had more severe presentations (higher Canadian Triage Acuity Scores) during and after the pandemic.
  • All-cause hospitalizations and ED visits significantly decreased during and post-pandemic compared to pre-pandemic.
  • Non-COVID mortality rates declined post-pandemic, but this trend was consistent with pre-pandemic patterns.

Conclusions:

  • The reduction in hospitalizations and ED visits for HF patients persisted beyond the pandemic.
  • Increased severity of patient presentation was observed during and after the pandemic.
  • The observed decrease in non-COVID mortality aligns with pre-pandemic trends, suggesting no significant residual impact on this outcome.
Abstract

Keywords:
heart failure outcomespost-pandemicresidual effects

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