COVID-19 and Acute Myocardial Infarction: Exploring Clinical Factors and Treatment Expenditures

Soheila Rajaie; Aziz Rezapour; Masih Tajdini; Shahrzad Salehbeygi; Samad Azari

doi:10.18502/jthc.v19i2.16200

Soheila Rajaie Department of Health Economics, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Aziz Rezapour Health Management and Economics Research Center, Health Management Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Masih Tajdini Tehran Heart Center, Cardiovascular Disease Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shahrzad Salehbeygi Tehran Heart Center, Cardiovascular Disease Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Samad Azari Hospital Management Research Center, Health Management Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jthc.v19i2.16200

Keywords: Myocardial infarction; COVID-19; Costs and cost analysis; Mortality; COVID-19 epidemiology

Abstract

Background: The concurrence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with COVID-19 can complicate the clinical conditions of patients and affect the patterns of hospital resource utilization. This study aimed to investigate and analyze the direct treatment costs of AMI patients with concurrent COVID-19.

Methods: This cross-sectional study collected and analyzed clinical data, including symptoms, readmission, and interventions, and treatment cost data for all patients at Tehran Heart Center using SPSS26 software. The mean medical costs of patients from January through May 2022 were also calculated.

Results: The COVID-19 group was composed of 72.9% male and 27.1% female patients, whereas the non-COVID-19 group consisted of 67.3% male and 32.7% female patients. Most of the patients in the COVID-19 group (60%) were in the elderly age group (>65 y). The length of stay was 8.70±5.84 days for the COVID-19 group and 6.31±4.42 days for the non-COVID-19 group. The mortality rate in the COVID-19 group was 24%, higher than the 5% rate in the other group. Additionally, the average total treatment costs were $6384.54±$6760.13 in the COVID-19 group and $6362.49±$4343.07 in the non-COVID-19 group (P>0.78 and P>0.050).

Conclusion: The study found that the COVID-19 group had a significantly higher in-hospital mortality rate than the non-COVID-19 group. During the follow-up period, the incidence of complications (chest pain and heart failure) was higher in the non-COVID-19 group. It also showed that longer hospital stays resulted in higher treatment costs.