Environmental impact of cardiovascular healthcare

Importance The healthcare sector is essential to human health and well-being, yet its significant carbon footprint contributes to climate change-related threats to health.

Objective To review systematically published studies on environmental impacts, including carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions, of contemporary cardiovascular healthcare of all types, from prevention through to treatment.

Evidence review We followed the methods of systematic review and synthesis. We conducted searches in Medline, EMBASE and Scopus for primary studies and systematic reviews measuring environmental impacts of any type of cardiovascular healthcare published in 2011 and onwards. Studies were screened, selected and data were extracted by two independent reviewers. Studies were too heterogeneous for pooling in meta-analysis and were narratively synthesised with insights derived from content analysis.