Health Sci Rep. 2026 Mar 8;9(3):e71993. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.71993. eCollection 2026 Mar.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The COVID-19 pandemic was a global public concern and constitutes a future threat to the world population due to its indirect effect on the burden of non-communicable diseases. The pandemic manifested disruptions in healthcare delivery and access. However, there is limited data in Sub-Saharan Africa on the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular disease (CVD) admissions and outcomes. This study aimed to compare the trends of CVD admissions and outcomes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Southwest Region of Cameroon.
METHODS: We carried out a retrospective study of patients suffering from CVDs admitted from March 11, 2018, to March 11, 2020 (Pre-COVID-19 pandemic period) and from March 11, 2020, to March 11, 2022 (COVID-19 pandemic period). A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: There were 483 admissions due to CVD during the COVID-19 pandemic and 518 during the pre-COVID-19 period. There was no significant difference in mean age before (57.97 ± 15.6 years) and during the pandemic (59.74 ± 16.1 years) (p = 0.44). There was also no significant change in the proportion of males and females during and before the pandemic: males (21, 4%, and 24.8%), and females (26.8% and 27%), (p = 0.28). There was a downward secular trend with random variation in the number of CVD admissions during the pandemic compared with the corresponding pre-COVID period, which had an upward trend. Rates of admissions of Acute Myocardial Infarction decreased the most (22.2%) during the first wave of the pandemic. The in-hospital mortality increased by 2.4% with a relative risk for Mortality of 1.18 (95% CI [0.87-1.61], p = 0.28). There was no change in median length of hospital stay (p = 0.936).
CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence of a decreasing tendency in admissions due to CVD during the COVID-19 Pandemic at the BRH. The effects varied among the different types of CVDs. The in-hospital mortality of CVDs did not change significantly.
PMID:41804492 | PMC:PMC12967670 | DOI:10.1002/hsr2.71993