{"id":155684,"date":"2021-01-16T00:09:59","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T21:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/pandemic-leads-to-slump-in-heart-disease-tests\/"},"modified":"2021-01-16T00:09:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T21:09:59","slug":"pandemic-leads-to-slump-in-heart-disease-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/pandemic-leads-to-slump-in-heart-disease-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"#Pandemic ‘leads to slump in heart disease tests’"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Pandemic ‘leads to slump in heart disease tests’<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Procedures to diagnose and treat heart disease fell by almost two-thirds in spring 2020 compared to 2019, a study suggested Friday, in the latest sign of the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on broader healthcare systems.\n <\/p>\n

The survey from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found there was a 64 percent reduction in cardiology diagnostic procedures in March-April 2020 compared with the same period in the previous year, with “abrupt and significant” impact on services evident across all regions.<\/p>\n

Around 718,000 cardiac diagnostic procedures were not performed in the centres surveyed in those two months due to the effects of the first wave of the pandemic, the authors say.<\/p>\n

The survey looked at data on several procedures to evaluate heart health such as echocardiograms, angiographies and exercise stress tests.<\/p>\n

The IAEA says the slump in the number of procedures was “mostly due to avoidance of tests by patients out of fear of possible exposure to COVID-19 in a hospital setting, fewer app<\/a>ointment slots due to extended disinfection measures between patients, and avoidance of tests that involve aerosolization to minimize personnel exposure risks”.<\/p>\n

It added that shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical staff were also reported in 22 percent of centres, adding to the difficulty of carrying out procedures.<\/p>\n

The study is based on responses from over 900 institutions in 108 countries.<\/p>\n

It showed that the procedures most impacted included lengthier ones and those where the risk of exposure to coronavirus infections could increase. <\/p>\n

Exercise stress tests, for example, where droplets of sweat and saliva are likely to be released in the air, were the most disrupted, dropping by 78 percent.<\/p>\n

In the four low-income countries, included the survey, the fall in procedures was even steeper, at 81 percent.<\/p>\n

Heart disease has been the world’s leading cause of death for the last 20 years.<\/p>\n

In December the World Health Organization said that it was “killing more people than ever before”, with nine million fatalities in 2019\u2014up by two million since 2000.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want people with heart diseases to miss out on timely diagnosis and treatment or to develop serious life-threatening complications that could have been avoided,” said co-author of the study Dr. Michelle Williams from the University of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

Last year, the IAEA also warned about the adverse impact of the pandemic on nuclear medicine services for cancer care.\n <\/p>\n\n

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COVID-19 pandemic indirectly disrupted heart disease care\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Pandemic ‘leads to slump in heart disease tests’ (2021, January 15)
\n retrieved 15 January 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news<\/a>\/2021-01-pandemic-slump-heart-disease.html<\/p>\n

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