Sex- and Age-Related Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Department Visits for Chest Pain in Curitiba, Brazil.
J Emerg Med
; 2022 Aug 15.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1983407
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Women have higher mortality from acute coronary syndrome (ACS) compared with men. Women may hesitate to search for emergency care when experiencing chest pain, which delays treatment.OBJECTIVE:
Our aim was to evaluate the changes in emergency visits for chest pain according to sex and age during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared with previous years.METHODS:
We collected data on chest pain visits (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification codes I20 [unstable angina], I21 [myocardial infarction], and R07.1-4 [chest pain]) from all public emergency departments (EDs) in Curitiba, Brazil. We compared the weekly rates of visits per 100,000 habitants on the epidemiologic weeks 11-52 of 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic period) with the average rates of the same weeks of 2018 and 2019 using Poisson regression.RESULTS:
From 2018 to 2020, 37,448 individuals presented to the ED for chest pain, of whom 8493 presented during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Compared with previous years, we observed a 23% reduction in chest pain visits (10.1 vs. 13.0 visits per 100,000 habitants/week; p < 0.001), but this reduction was greater in women than in men (30% vs. 15%; p < 0.001). This reduction was associated with age among women (27%, 31%, and 36% for < 50 years, between 50 and 69 years and > 70 years, respectively, p for age-related trend = 0.041), but not among men.CONCLUSIONS:
In this population-level study of Curitiba, Brazil, the reduction in ED visits during the COVID-19 pandemic was greater in women than in men, particularly among those > 70 years of age, suggesting that the sex- and age-related disparities in health care delivery for ACS may have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Emergency Medicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.jemermed.2022.08.003
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