The effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on patients with chronic cardiovascular disease in Vietnam

Authors

  • Sy Van Hoang Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • Kha Minh Nguyen Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • Hoa Thi Anh Le Department of Outpatient, University Medical Center, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • Au Thanh Tung Department of Outpatient, University Medical Center, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • Phat Vuong Tien Huynh Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange, CA, United States
  • Truong Van Le Traditional Medicine Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Khoa Le Anh Huynh Department of Biostatistics, Virgnia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, VA, United States
  • Nicole Vuong American University of the Caribbean, School of Medicine, Cupecoy, Sint Maarten
  • Nacir Dhouibi Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Djebal Lakhdhar Street, Tunis, Tunisia
  • Huy Tien Nguyen School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.15002

Keywords:

Lockdown, COVID-19, cardiovascular disease, outpatient

Abstract

Introduction: We evaluated the impact of the lockdown policy during the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular outpatients of a cardiology clinic in Vietnam from April to June 2020. We estimated the occurrence of different cardiovascular problems in general and the stability of blood pressure.

Methodology: During the Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam, we conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate its impact on blood pressure stability of hypertensive patients treated as outpatients at the clinic of the University Medical Center (UMC), Ho Chi Minh City.

Results: The mean age of the recruited 493 patients was 62.2 ± 10.2 years. The stable blood pressure group consisted of 87% patients, while the unstable blood pressure group consisted of 13% patients. We found that 68% of the study population attended their follow-up appointments as scheduled: 87% with stable blood pressure versus only 13% with unstable blood pressure. Significant differences were noticed in body weight changes and cardiovascular problems between the two groups: body weight increase (22.6% vs. 10.2%), body weight decrease (3.2% vs. 6.7%), worsening of cardiovascular problems (35.5% vs. 17.9%) in the unstable and stable blood pressure groups, respectively. Multivariable regression analysis reflected the impact of the increase in body weight and occurrence of cardiovascular problems on the patients with unstable blood pressure.

Conclusions: Our study provided concrete proof of the impact of the lockdown on chronic patients, which should warrant further surveys, and evaluation of the lockdown policy.

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Published

2022-02-28

How to Cite

1.
Hoang SV, Nguyen KM, Le HTA, Tung AT, Huynh PVT, Le TV, Huynh KLA, Vuong N, Dhouibi N, Nguyen HT (2022) The effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on patients with chronic cardiovascular disease in Vietnam. J Infect Dev Ctries 16:268–275. doi: 10.3855/jidc.15002

Issue

Section

Coronavirus Pandemic