Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on cardiometabolic patients without SARS-CoV-2 infection in Latin America
Jorge Camilletti, Division of Cardiology, Hospital Italiano de La Plata, Buenos Aires
Nicolas F. Renna, Department of Cardiology, Hospital Español de Mendoza, Mendoza; Laboratoy of Cardiovascular Physiopathology, IMBECU-CONICET, Mendoza. Argentina
Ricardo López-Santi, Interamerican Society of Cardiology, La Plata, Argentina
Juan Erriest, Division of Cardiology, Hospital Italiano de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Eliomar García-Bello, Cardiovascular Center, Centro de Diagnóstico Medicina Avanzada y Telemedicina, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
John Araujo, Adult Congenital Heart Disease Chapter, Inter-American Society of Cardiology, Medellin, Colombia
Paola Varleta, Centro Cardiovascular Hospital Dipreca, Santiago de Chile, Chile
Eduardo Gómez-Díaz, Department of Cardiology, Hospital Metropolitano del Norte, Valencia Carabobo, Venezuela
Gisselle Ramírez, Department of Cardiology, Medicina Cardiovascular Asociada, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Ana Berni-Betancourd, Arritmias y Mesa directiva, Asociación Nacional de Cardiológos de México (ANCAM), Ciudad de México, México
Gustavo Escalada-Lesme, Department of Cardiology, Centro Médico Nacional-Hospital Nacional Itaguá, Paraguay
Lourdes V. Campos-Alcántara, Department of Cardiology, Consultorio de Lourdes Victoria Campos Alcántara, Lima, Perú
Leonardo Moya-Loor, Department of Cardiology, Hospital Santa Margarita, Porto Viejo, Ecuador
Claudio Rey-Benavente, Department of Cardiology, Hospital Arroyabe Pichanal, Salta, Argentina
Claudia Almonte, Department of Cardiology, Medicina Cardiovascular Asociada, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Maicol Cortez-Sandoval, Department of Cardiology, Hospital Nacional Edgardo Rebagliti Martins, Lima, Peru
María Alvarado-Cuadros, Department of Cardiology, Institution, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Monica I. Rosario, Cardiovascular Center, Centro de Diagnóstico Medicina Avanzada y Telemedicina, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Shyla Gupta, Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Martín Ibarrola, Cardiovascular Center BV, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Adrian Baranchuk, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Background and Objectives: A cross-sectional survey including 38 questions about demography, clinical condition, changes in health habits, and medical treatments for cardiometabolic patients in outpatient follow-up was conducted. From June 15 to July 15, 2020, a total of 13 Latin-American countries participated in enrolling patients. Methods: These countries were divided into 3 geographic regions: Region 1 including North, Central, and Caribbean Regions (NCCR), Region 2 including the Andean Region (AR), and Region 3 including the Southern Cone Region (SCR). 4.216 patients were analyzed, resulting in a coefficient of 33.82%, 32.23%, and 33.94% for NCCR, AR, and SCR, respectively. Results: Significant differences were found between the AR, SCR, and NCCR regions. The analysis of habitual medication usage showed that discontinued use of medication was more present in AR, reaching almost 30% (p < 0.001). The main finding of this study was the negative impact that restrictive measures have on adherence to medications and physical activity: Rs = 0.84 (p = 0.0003) and Rs = 0.61 (p = 0.0032), respectively. AR was the most vulnerable region. Conclusion: Restrictive quarantine measures imposed by the different countries showed a positive correlation with medication discontinuation and a negative correlation with physical activity levels in patients analyzed. These findings characterize the impact of the consequences left by this pandemic. Undoubtedly, restrictive measures have been and will continue to have reverberating negative effects in most Latin-American countries.
Keywords: COVID-19. Pandemic. Lockdown. Cardiometabolic patients. Latin America.
