The Impact of COVID-19 National Lockdown on Myocardial Infarction (MI) Hospitalizations in Northern Jordan.

BACKGROUND: During COVID-19 lockdown periods, several studies reported decreased numbers of myocardial infarction (MI) admissions. The lockdown impact has not yet been determined in developing countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact that of the lockdown measures might have had on the mean number of MI hospital admissions in Northern Jordan.

METHODOLOGY: A single-center study examined consecutive admissions of MI patients during COVID-19 outbreak. Participants' data was abstracted from the medical records of King Abdullah University Hospital between 2018 and 2020. Mean and percentages of monthly admissions were compared by year and by lockdown status (pre-lockdown, lockdown, and post-lockdown time intervals).

RESULTS: A total of 1380 participants were admitted with acute MI symptoms: 59.2% of which were STEMI. A decrease in number of MI admissions was observed in 2020, from 43.1 (SD: 8.017) cases per month in 2019 to 40.59 (SD: 10.763) in 2020 (P < 0.0001) while an increase in the numbers during the lockdown was observed. The mean number during the pre-lockdown period was 40.51 (SD: 8.883), the lockdown period was 44.74 (SD: 5.689) and the post-lockdown was 34.66 (SD: 6.026) (P < 0.0001 for all comparisons). Similar patterns were observed when percentages of admissions were used.

CONCLUSION: Upon comparing the lockdown period both to the pre- and post-lockdown periods separately, we found a significant increase in MI admissions during the lockdown period. This suggests that lockdown-related stress may have increased the risk of myocardial infarction.