Outcomes of Patients 65 Years or Older After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Based on Location of Cardiac Arrest in Japan

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in residential aged care facilities is independently associated with lower survival in Perth, Australia

Aim

To compare out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) characteristics and outcomes between people aged ≥ 65 years who arrested in a residential aged care facility (RACF) versus a private residence in Perth, Australia.

Methods

We undertook a retrospective cohort study of OHCA cases attended by emergency medical services (EMS) in Perth, January 2018-December 2021. OHCA patient and event characteristics and survival outcomes were compared via univariate analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between residency type and (i) return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) at emergency department (ED) and (ii) 30-day survival.

Results

A total of 435 OHCA occurred in RACFs versus 3,395 in private residences. RACF patients were significantly older (median age: 86 [IQR 79, 91] vs 78 [71, 85] years; p < 0.001), more commonly female (50.1% vs 36.8%; p < 0.001), bystander-witnessed arrests (34.9% vs 21.5%; p < 0.001), received bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (42.1% vs 28.6%; p < 0.001), had less shockable first monitored rhythms (4.0% vs 8.1%; p = 0.002) and more frequently had a "do not resuscitate" order identified (46.0% vs 13.6%; <0.001). Among those with EMS-attempted resuscitation or with defibrillation before EMS arrival, ROSC at ED and 30-day survival were significantly lower in the RACF group (6.2% vs 18.9%; p < 0.001 and 1.9% vs 7.7%; p < 0.001). The adjusted odds of ROSC at ED (aOR: 0.22 [95%CI: 0.10, 0.46]) and 30-day survival (aOR: 0.20 [95%CI 0.05, 0.92]) were significantly lower for RACF residents.

Conclusion

RACF residency was an independent predictor of lower survival from OHCA, highlighting the importance of end-of-life planning for RACF residents.

1-year functional outcomes after cardiopulmonary resuscitation for older adults with pre-existing long-term care needs

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the 1-year functional outcomes after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in adults aged ≥65 years with pre-existing long-term care needs.

METHODS

This population-based cohort study was conducted in Tochigi Prefecture, one of 47 prefectures in Japan. We used medical and long-term care administrative databases, which included data on functional and cognitive impairment that were assessed with the nationally standardised care-needs certification system. Among individuals aged ≥65 years registered between June 2014 and February 2018, patients who underwent CPR were identified. The primary outcome was mortality and care needs at 1 year after CPR. The outcome was stratified by pre-existing care needs before CPR based on the total daily estimated care minutes: no care needs, support levels 1 and 2 and care-needs level 1 (estimated care time 25-49 min), care-needs levels 2 and 3 (50-89 min) and care-needs levels 4 and 5 (≥90 min).

RESULTS

Among 594,092 eligible individuals, 5,086 (0.9%) underwent CPR. The 1-year mortalities after CPR in patients with no care needs, support levels 1 and 2 and care-needs level 1, care-needs levels 2 and 3 and care-needs levels 4 and 5 were 94.6% (n = 2,207/2,332), 96.1% (n = 736/766), 94.5% (n = 930/984) and 95.9% (n = 963/1,004), respectively. Among survivors, most patients had no change in care needs before and at 1 year after CPR. There was no significant association between pre-existing functional and cognitive impairment and 1-year mortality and care needs after adjusting for potential confounders.

CONCLUSION

Healthcare providers need to discuss poor survival outcomes after CPR with all older adults and their families in shared decision making.

Tree-Based Algorithms and Association Rule Mining for Predicting Patients’ Neurological Outcomes After First-Aid Treatment for an Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest During COVID-19 Pandemic: Application of Data Mining

Objective

The authors performed several tree-based algorithms and an association rules mining as data mining tools to find useful determinants for neurological outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients as well as to assess the effect of the first-aid and basic characteristics in the EMS system.

Patients and Methods

This was a retrospective cohort study. The outcome was Cerebral Performance Categories grading on OHCA patients at hospital discharge. Decision tree-based models inclusive of C4.5 algorithm, classification and regression tree and random forest were built to determine an OHCA patient’s prognosis. Association rules mining was another data mining method which we used to find the combination of prognostic factors linked to the outcome.

Results

The total of 3520 patients were included in the final analysis. The mean age was 67.53 (±18.4) year-old and 63.4% were men. To overcome the imbalance outcome issue in machine learning, the random forest has a better predictive ability for OHCA patients in overall accuracy (91.19%), weighted precision (88.76%), weighted recall (91.20%) and F1 score (0.9) by oversampling adjustment. Under association rules mining, patients who had any witness on the spot when encountering OHCA or who had ever ROSC during first-aid would be highly correlated with good CPC prognosis.

Conclusion

The random forest has a better predictive ability for OHCA patients. This paper provides a role model applying several machine learning algorithms to the first-aid clinical assessment that will be promising combining with Artificial Intelligence for applying to emergency medical services.

OUT-OF-HOSPITAL CARDIAC ARREST OUTCOMES - BYSTANDER CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION RATE IMPROVEMENT

Approximately 8000 people suffer from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in the Republic of Croatia every year. OHCA survival rates generally remain low despite major advances in resuscitation. Its incidence and survival rate are well known in many European countries, but reliable data on OHCA in Croatia are lacking. The aim of the study was to determine survival rate of patients with OHCA in the Republic of Croatia and the importance of the community bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) rates in the survival chain. This prospective observational study performed between October 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017 included all adult patients with OHCA in Croatia who were treated by Emergency Medical Services (EMS). OHCA data were collected from the Croatian Institute of Emergency Medicine database and Utstein cardiac arrest data collection form. Descriptive data presentation was used in the analyses. Data were expressed as absolute frequencies and percentages and central tendency measures. Testing of correlations in return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was performed by logistic regression. During the observation period, a total of 1763 adult patients without signs of circulation were assessed by EMS in Croatia and 760 (43%) adult patients were resuscitated by EMS personnel. Outcomes measured in ROSC until emergency department admission were reported in 126 (17%) cases. Shockable rhythm vs. non-shockable rhythm (OR: 5.832, 95% CI: 3.621-9.392; p<0.001) and bystander witnessed cardiac arrest (OR: 8.213, 95% CI: 2.554-26.411, p<0.001) were significantly associated with a higher probability of survival. There was no significant difference in correlation with day or night shift, etiology of cardiac arrest and bystander CPR variables. Survival rate of OHCA patients who received CPR until emergency department admission in Croatia was 17%. A higher survival rate post-OHCA was more likely among patients who received bystander CPR and had shockable rhythm.

Clinical Phenotyping of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients With Shockable Rhythm - Machine Learning-Based Unsupervised Cluster Analysis

BACKGROUND

The hypothesis of this study is that latent class analysis could identify the subphenotypes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients associated with the outcomes and allow us to explore heterogeneity in the effects of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR).

METHODS AND RESULTS

This study was a retrospective analysis of a multicenter prospective observational study (CRITICAL study) of OHCA patients. It included adult OHCA patients with initial shockable rhythm. Patients from 2012 to 2016 (development dataset) were included in the latent class analysis, and those from 2017 (validation dataset) were included for evaluation. The association between subphenotypes and outcomes was investigated. Further, the heterogeneity of the association between ECPR implementation and outcomes was explored. In the study results, a total of 920 patients were included for latent class analysis. Three subphenotypes (Groups 1, 2, and 3) were identified, mainly characterized by the distribution of partial pressure of O2(PO2), partial pressure of CO2(PCO2) value of blood gas assessment, cardiac rhythm on hospital arrival, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. The 30-day survival outcomes were varied across the groups: 15.7% in Group 1; 30.7% in Group 2; and 85.9% in Group 3. Further, the association between ECPR and 30-day survival outcomes by subphenotype groups in the development dataset was as varied. These results were validated using the validation dataset.

CONCLUSIONS

The latent class analysis identified 3 subphenotypes with different survival outcomes and potential heterogeneity in the effects of ECPR.

A spatiotemporal data mining study to identify high-risk neighborhoods for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) incidents

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a worldwide health problem. The aim of the study is to utilize the territorial-wide OHCA data of Hong Kong in 2012-2015 to examine its spatiotemporal pattern and high-risk neighborhoods. Three techniques for spatiotemporal data mining (SaTScan's spatial scan statistic, Local Moran's I, and Getis Ord Gi*) were used to extract high-risk neighborhoods of OHCA occurrence and identify local clusters/hotspots. By capitalizing on the strengths of these methods, the results were then triangulated to reveal "truly" high-risk OHCA clusters. The final clusters for all ages and the elderly 65+ groups exhibited relatively similar patterns. All ages groups were mainly distributed in the urbanized neighborhoods throughout Kowloon. More diverse distribution primarily in less accessible areas was observed among the elderly group. All outcomes were further converted into an index for easy interpretation by the general public. Noticing the spatial mismatches between hospitals and ambulance depots (representing supplies) and high-risk neighborhoods (representing demands), this setback should be addressed along with public education and strategic ambulance deployment plan to shorten response time and improve OHCA survival rate. This study offers policymakers and EMS providers essential spatial evidence to assist with emergency healthcare planning and informed decision-making.

Clustering out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest patients with non‐shockable rhythm by machine learning latent class analysis

Aim

We aimed to identify subphenotypes among patients with out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with initial non‐shockable rhythm by applying machine learning latent class analysis and examining the associations between subphenotypes and neurological outcomes.

Methods

This study was a retrospective analysis within a multi‐institutional prospective observational cohort study of OHCA patients in Osaka, Japan (the CRITICAL study). The data of adult OHCA patients with medical causes and initial non‐shockable rhythm presenting with OHCA between 2012 and 2016 were included in machine learning latent class analysis models, which identified subphenotypes, and patients who presented in 2017 were included in a dataset validating the subphenotypes. We investigated associations between subphenotypes and 30‐day neurological outcomes.

Results

Among the 12,594 patients in the CRITICAL study database, 4,849 were included in the dataset used to classify subphenotypes (median age: 75 years, 60.2% male), and 1,465 were included in the validation dataset (median age: 76 years, 59.0% male). Latent class analysis identified four subphenotypes. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for a favorable 30‐day neurological outcome among patients with these subphenotypes, using group 4 for comparison, were as follows; group 1, 0.01 (0.001–0.046); group 2, 0.097 (0.051–0.171); and group 3, 0.175 (0.073–0.358). Associations between subphenotypes and 30‐day neurological outcomes were validated using the validation dataset.

Conclusion

We identified four subphenotypes of OHCA patients with initial non‐shockable rhythm. These patient subgroups presented with different characteristics associated with 30‐day survival and neurological outcomes.

Incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and survival rates after 1 month among the Japanese working population: a cohort study

OBJECTIVES

The prevention and improvement of the prognosis of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) are important issues especially with respect to their social and economic significance in working populations. The age distribution of the working population in Japan is expected to change continually due to its ageing society and extension of retirement; however, few reports have examined the long-term condition of OHCA in the working population, defined by age. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of OHCAs and the survival rates after 1 month, among the Japanese working population, defined by age, considering the changing age distribution.

DESIGN AND SETTING

We analysed the All-Japan Utstein registry, a prospective, nationwide, population-based, observational registry (2005-2016).

PARTICIPANTS

From the registry, 212 961 patients with OHCA from the Japanese working population (defined aged 20-69 years), with only cardiogenic aetiology participated in this study. These patients were further divided into four groups according to the type of citizen bystander (family, friends, work-colleagues and passers-by).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

The main outcomes were 1-month survival with favourable neurological outcomes.

RESULTS

The incidence of OHCAs, in any age group, was almost constant during the 12-year period. The work-colleagues had the best prognosis despite having significantly longer times to initial defibrillations compared with the passers-by (13 vs 12 min, respectively, p<0.001) that was associated independently with 1-month survival with favourable neurological outcomes (adjusted OR: 0.94 (1 min increments), p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

In the 12-year period, the incidence of OHCAs in any age group remained almost constant, whereas the prognosis improved each year. Reducing the time to initial defibrillation may further improve the prognosis of OHCAs with a work-colleague bystander.

The Influence of COVID-19 on Out-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survival Outcomes: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is associated with poor prognosis. Because the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted mortality and morbidity, both on an individual level and the health care system as a whole, our purpose was to determine rates of OHCA survival since the onset of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the influence of COVID-19 on OHCA survival outcomes according to the PRISMA guidelines. We searched the literature using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials databases from inception to September 2021 and identified 1775 potentially relevant studies, of which thirty-one articles totaling 88,188 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods was 12.3% vs. 8.9%, respectively (OR = 1.40; 95%CI: 1.06-1.87; p < 0.001). Survival to hospital discharge in pre- vs. intra-COVID-19 periods was 11.5% vs. 8.2% (OR = 1.57; 95%CI: 1.37-1.79; p < 0.001). A similar dependency was observed in the case of survival to hospital discharge with the Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) 1-2 (6.7% vs. 4.0%; OR = 1.71; 95%CI: 1.35-2.15; p < 0.001), as well as in the 30-day survival rate (9.2% vs. 6.4%; OR = 1.63; 95%CI: 1.13-2.36; p = 0.009). In conclusion, prognosis of OHCA is usually poor and even worse during COVID-19.

Nursing Home Versus Community Resuscitation After Cardiac Arrest: Comparative Outcomes and Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the characteristics and outcomes of patients who experienced cardiac arrest in nursing homes compared with those in private residences and determine prognostic factors for survival.

DESIGN

This was a retrospective study that analyzed data from an Utstein-style registry of the Tokyo Fire Department.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

We identified patients aged ≥65 years who experienced cardiac arrest in a nursing home or private residence from the population-based registry of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Tokyo, Japan, from 2014 to 2018.

METHODS

Patients were grouped into the nursing home or the private residence groups according to their cardiac arrest location. We compared the characteristics and outcomes between the 2 groups and determined prognostic factors for survival in the nursing home group. The primary outcome was 1-month survival after cardiac arrest.

RESULTS

In total, 37,550 patient records (nursing home group = 6271; private residence group = 31,279) were analyzed. Patients in the nursing home group were significantly older and more often had witnessed arrest, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and shock delivery using an automated external defibrillator. The 1-month survival rate was significantly higher in the nursing home group (2.6% vs 1.8%, P < .001). In the best scenario (daytime emergency call, witnessed cardiac arrest, bystander CPR provided), the 1-month survival rate after cardiac arrest in the nursing home group was 8.0% (95% confidence interval 6.4-9.9%), while none survived if they had neither witness nor bystander CPR.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Survival outcome was significantly better in the nursing home group than in the private residence group and was well stratified by 3 prognostic factors: emergency call timing, witnessed status, and bystander CPR provision. Our results suggest that a decision to withhold vigorous treatment solely based on nursing home residential status is not justified, while termination of resuscitation may be determined by considering significant prognostic factors.

Evaluation of Autonomous Actions on Bystander-Initiated Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Public Access Defibrillation in Tokyo

The frequencies of autonomous bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and public access defibrillation have not yet been clarified. We aimed to evaluate the frequency of autonomous actions by citizens not having a duty to act.This retrospective observational study included patients who suffered an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Tokyo between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017. The Delphi method with a panel of 11 experts classified the locations of OHCA resuscitations into 3 categories as follows; autonomous, non autonomous, and undetermined. The locations determined as autonomous were further divided into 2 groups; home and other locations. Bystander-initiated CPR and application of an automated external defibrillator (AED) pad were evaluated in 43,460 patients with OHCA.Group A (non autonomous), group B (autonomous, not home), and group C (home), consisted of 7,352, 3,193, and 32,915 patients, respectively. Compared with group A, group B and group C had significantly lower rates of bystander-initiated CPR (group A, B, C; 68.3% versus 38.6% versus 23.9%) and AED pad application (groups A, B, C; 26.8% versus 15.1% versus 0.6%). In addition, multivariate analysis demonstrated that an autonomous location of resuscitation was independently associated with the frequencies of bystander-initiated CPR and AED pad application, even after adjusting for age, sex, and witness status.Autonomous actions by citizens were unacceptably infrequent. Therefore, the education and training of citizens is necessary to further enhance autonomous CPR.

The interplay between bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and ambient temperature on neurological outcome after cardiac arrest: A nationwide observational cohort study

BACKGROUND

At lower ambient temperature, patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) easily experience hypothermia. Hypothermia has shown to improve the rate of successful return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in animal models. We hypothesized that lower temperature affects the impact of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the increased odds of a favorable neurological outcome post-OHCA.

METHODS

This study used information collected by the prospective, nationwide, Utstein registry to examine data from 352,689 adult patients who experienced OHCA from 2012 to 2016 in Japan. The primary outcome was a 1-month favorable neurological outcomes. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to test the impact of bystander CPR according to the temperature on the favorable outcome.

RESULTS

A total of 201,111 patients with OHCA were included in the complete case analysis. The lower temperature group had lower proportions of receiving bystander CPR (46.5 vs. 47.9%) and having favorable outcome (2.1 vs 2.8%) than those in the higher group. Multivariable analysis revealed that bystander CPR at lower temperatures was significantly associated with favorable outcomes (adjusted odds ratio, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.09-1.37), whereas bystander CPR at higher temperatures was not associated with favorable outcomes (1.02; 0.92-1.13). The nonlinear relationship using a spline curve in the multivariable model revealed that odds ratio of favorable neurological outcomes associated with bystander CPR increased as the temperature decreased.

CONCLUSION

Bystander CPR was associated with favorable neurological outcomes at lower temperatures. The odds of a favorable outcome associated with bystander CPR increased as the temperature decreased.

Type of bystander and rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in nursing home patients suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

AIM

We investigated bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) provision rate and survival outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients in nursing homes by bystander type.

METHODS

A population-based observational study was conducted for nursing home OHCAs during 2013-2018. The exposure was the bystander type: medical staff, non-medical staff, or family. The primary outcome was bystander CPR provision rate; the secondary outcomes were prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival to discharge. Multivariable logistic regression analysis which corrected for various demographic and clinical characteristics evaluated bystander type impact on study outcomes. Bystander CPR rate trend was investigated by bystander type.

RESULTS

Of 8281 eligible OHCA patients, 26.0%, 70.8%, and 3.2% cases were detected by medical staff, non-medical staff, and family, respectively. Provision rate of bystander CPR was 69.9% and rate of bystander defibrillation was 0.4% in total. Bystander CPR was provided by medical staff, non-medical staff, and families in 74.8%, 68.9%, and 52.1% respectively. Total survival rate was 2.2%, out of which, 3.3% was for medical staff, 3.2% for non-medical staff, and 0.6% for family. Compared to the results of detection by medical staff, the adjusted odds ratios (95% CIs) for provision of bystander CPR were 0.56 (0.49-0.63) for detection by non-medical staff and 0.33 (0.25-0.44) for detection by family. The bystander CPR rates of all three groups increased over time, and among them, the medical staff group increased the most. For prehospital ROSC and survival to discharge, no significant differences were observed according to bystander type.

CONCLUSION

Although OHCA was detected more often by non-medical staff, they provided bystander CPR less frequently than the medical staff did. To improve survival outcome of nursing home OHCA, bundle interventions including increasing the usage of automated external defibrillators and expanding CPR training for non-medical staff in nursing home are needed.

Impact of perceived inappropiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation on emergency clinicians' intention to leave the job: Results from a cross-sectional survey in 288 centres across 24 countries

INTRODUCTION

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in patients with a poor prognosis increases the risk of perception of inappropriate care leading to moral distress in clinicians. We evaluated whether perception of inappropriate CPR is associated with intention to leave the job among emergency clinicians.

METHODS

A cross-sectional multi-centre survey was conducted in 24 countries. Factors associated with intention to leave the job were analysed by conditional logistic regression models. Results are expressed as odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS

Of 5099 surveyed emergency clinicians, 1836 (36.0%) were physicians, 1313 (25.7%) nurses, 1950 (38.2%) emergency medical technicians. Intention to leave the job was expressed by 1721 (33.8%) clinicians, 3403 (66.7%) often wondered about the appropriateness of a resuscitation attempt, 2955 (58.0%) reported moral distress caused by inappropriate CPR. After adjustment for other covariates, the risk of intention to leave the job was higher in clinicians often wondering about the appropriateness of a resuscitation attempt (1.43 [1.23-1.67]), experiencing associated moral distress (1.44 [1.24-1.66]) and who were between 30-44 years old (1.53 [1.21-1.92] compared to <30 years). The risk was lower when the clinician felt valued by the team (0.53 [0.42-0.66]), when the team leader acknowledged the efforts delivered by the team (0.61 [0.49-0.75]) and in teams that took time for debriefing (0.70 [0.60-0.80]).

CONCLUSION

Resuscitation attempts perceived as inappropriate by clinicians, and the accompanying moral distress, were associated with an increased likelihood of intention to leave the job. Interprofessional collaboration, teamwork, and regular interdisciplinary debriefing were associated with a lower risk of intention to leave the job. ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT02356029.

Development and Validation of a Clinical Score to Predict Neurological Outcomes in Patients With Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Treated With Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

IMPORTANCE

Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) is expected to improve the neurological outcomes of patients with refractory cardiac arrest; however, it is invasive, expensive, and requires substantial human resources. The ability to predict neurological outcomes would assist in patient selection for ECPR.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and validate a prediction model for neurological outcomes of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with shockable rhythm treated with ECPR.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This prognostic study analyzed data from the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest registry, a multi-institutional nationwide cohort study that included 87 emergency departments in Japan. All adult patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and shockable rhythm who were treated with ECPR between June 2014 and December 2017 were included. Patients were randomly assigned to the development and validation cohorts based on the institutions. The analysis was conducted between November 2019 and August 2020.

EXPOSURES

Age (<65 years), time from call to hospital arrival (≤25 minutes), initial cardiac rhythm on hospital arrival (shockable), and initial pH value (≥7.0).

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The primary outcome was 1-month survival with favorable neurological outcome, defined by Cerebral Performance Category 1 or 2. In the development cohort, a simple scoring system was developed to predict this outcome using a logistic regression model. The diagnostic ability and calibration of the scoring system were assessed in the validation cohort.

RESULTS

A total of 916 patients were included, 458 in the development cohort (median [interquartile range {IQR}] age, 61 [47-69] years, 377 [82.3%] men) and 458 in the validation cohort (median [IQR] age, 60 [49-68] years; 393 [85.8%] men). The cohorts had the same proportion of favorable neurological outcome (57 patients [12.4%]). The prediction scoring system was developed, attributing a score of 1 for each clinical predictor. Patients were divided into 4 groups, corresponding to their scores on the prediction model, as follows: very low probability (score 0), low probability (score 1), middle probability (score 2), and high probability (score 3-4) of good neurological outcome. The mean predicted probabilities in the groups stratified by score were as follows: very low, 1.6% (95% CI, 1.6%-1.6%); low, 4.4% (95% CI, 4.2%-4.6%); middle, 12.5% (95% CI, 12.1%-12.8%); and high, 30.8% (95% CI, 29.1%-32.5%). In the validation cohort, the C statistic of the scoring system was 0.724 (95% CI, 0.652-0.786). The predicted probability was evaluated as well calibrated to the observed favorable outcome in both cohorts by visual assessment of the calibration plot.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this study, the scoring system had good discrimination and calibration performance to predict favorable neurological outcomes of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and shockable rhythm who were treated with ECPR.

Sex differences in survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of sudden cardiac death worldwide. Researchers have found significant pathophysiological differences between females and males and clinically significant sex differences related to medical services. However, conflicting results exist and there is no uniform agreement regarding sex differences in survival and prognosis after OHCA. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between the prognosis of OHCA and sex factors.

METHODS

We comprehensively searched the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases and obtained a total of 1042 articles, from which 33 studies were selected for inclusion. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using a random-effects model.

RESULTS

The meta-analysis included 1,268,664 patients. Compared with males, females were older (69.7 years vs. 65.4 years, p < 0.05) and more frequently suffered OHCA without witnesses (58.39% vs 62.70%, p < 0.05). Females were less likely to receive in-hospital interventions than males. There was no significant difference between females and males in the survival from OHCA to hospital admission (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.89-1.1). However, females had lower chances for survival from hospital admission to discharge (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.48-0.73), overall survival to hospital discharge (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.62-0.86), and favorable neurological outcomes (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.47-0.83) compared with males.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that the overall discharge survival rate of females is lower than that of males, and females face a poor prognosis of the nervous system. This is likely related to the pathophysiological characteristics of females, more conservative treatment measures compared with males, and different post-resuscitation care. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution due to the presence of several confounding factors.

Validation of the NUE Rule to Predict Futile Resuscitation of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

AIM

We validated the NUE rule, using three criteria (Non-shockable initial rhythm, Unwitnessed arrest, Eighty years or older) to predict futile resuscitation of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of all recorded OHCA in Marion County, Indiana, from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2019. We described patient, arrest, and emergency medical services (EMS) response characteristics, and assessed the performance of the NUE rule in identifying patients unlikely to survive to hospital discharge.

RESULTS

From 2014 to 2019, EMS responded to 4370 patients who sustained OHCA. We excluded 329 (7.5%) patients with incomplete data. Median patient age was 62 years (IQR 49 - 73), 1599 (39.6%) patients were female, and 1728 (42.8%) arrests were witnessed. The NUE rule identified 290 (7.2%) arrests, of whom none survived to hospital discharge.

CONCLUSION

In external validation, the NUE rule (Non-shockable initial rhythm, Unwitnessed arrest, Eighty years or older) correctly identified 7.2% of OHCA patients unlikely to survive to hospital discharge. The NUE rule could be used in EMS protocols and policies to identify OHCA patients very unlikely to benefit from aggressive resuscitation.

Intra-day change in occurrence of out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation in Japan: The JCS-ReSS study

BACKGROUND

Real-world evidence of out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation (VF), especially regarding intra-day change, remains unclear. We aimed to investigate that age- and gender-dependent difference of intra-day change of VF occurrence.

METHOD

We enrolled 71,692 patients (males: 56,419 [78.7%], females: 15,273 [21.3%]) in whom cardiac VF had been documented from the 2005-2015 All-Japan Utstein Registry data. Subjects were divided into four groups: group-I (<18 years old), group-II (18-39), group-III (40-69), and group-IV (≥70). Among four groups in each of male and female, we compared the intra-day change of VF occurrence, and evaluated the risk factors of the unfavorable neurologic outcomes at 1 month after VF.

RESULTS

Regardless of age, the incidence of VF was significantly greater in male than in female subjects. In male subjects, VF in group-I, III and IV occurred higher at daytime, however, group-II had no intra-day difference because group-II had a higher VF events at midnight~ early morning compared with other aged groups (Poisson regression analysis, p = .03). While in female, each group showed similar intra-day pattern of VF occurrence. Logistic regression analysis revealed that some of the clinical parameters such as time periods from call receipt to first shock and the presence of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation were important for risk of 30-day neurologically unfavorable outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The intra-day change of VF occurrence was age-dependently different in males but not in females, suggesting age- and gender-dependent differences in underlying cardiac diseases. These might affect the significant difference in unfavorable neurologic outcome.

Nation-Wide Observational Study of Cardiac Arrests Occurring in Nursing Homes and Nursing Facilities in Singapore

Introduction: Nursing home (NH) residents with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) have unique resuscitation priorities. This study aimed to describe OHCA characteristics in NH residents and identify independent predictors of survival. Materials and Methods: OHCA cases between 2010–16 in the Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study were retrospectively analysed. Patients aged <18 years old and non-emergency cases were excluded. Primary outcome was survival at discharge or 30 days. Good neurological outcome was defined as a cerebral performance score between 1–2. Results: A total of 12,112 cases were included. Of these, 449 (3.7%) were NH residents who were older (median age 79 years, range 69–87 years) and more likely to have a history of stroke, heart and respiratory diseases. Fewer NH OHCA had presumed cardiac aetiology (62% vs 70%, P <0.01) and initial shockable rhythm (8.9% vs 18%, P <0.01), but had higher incidence of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (74% vs 43%, P <0.01) and defibrillator use (8.5% vs 2.8%, P <0.01). Non-NH (2.8%) residents had better neurological outcomes than NH (0.9%) residents (P <0.05). Factors associated with survival for cardiac aetiology included age <65 years old, witnessed arrest, bystander defibrillator use and initial shockable rhythm; for non-cardiac aetiology, these included witnessed arrest (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.8, P <0.001) and initial shockable rhythm (AOR 5.7, P <0.001). Conclusion: Neurological outcomes were poorer in NH survivors of OHCA. These findings should inform health policies on termination of resuscitation, advance care directives and do-not-resuscitate orders in this population. Ann Acad Med Singapore 2020;49:285–93 Key words: Advance care directives, Do-not-resuscitate orders, Geriatrics, Out-of- hospital, Palliative care

Nationwide trends in residential and non-residential out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and differences in bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation

AIMS

Singapore is highly-urbanized, with >90% of the population living in high-rise apartments. She has implemented several city-wide interventions such as dispatcher-assisted CPR, community CPR training and smartphone activation of volunteers to increase bystander CPR (BCPR) rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). These may have different impact on residential and non-residential OHCA. We aimed to evaluate the characteristics, processes-of-care and outcome differences between residential and non-residential OHCA and study the differences in temporal trends of BCPR rates.

METHODS

This was a national, observational study in Singapore from 2010 to 2016, using data from the prospective Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study. The primary outcome was survival (to-discharge or to-30-days). Multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine the effect of location-type on survival and a test of statistical interaction was performed to assess the difference in the temporal relationship of BCPR rates between location-type.

RESULTS

8397 cases qualified for analysis, of which 5990 (71.3%) were residential. BCPR and bystander automated external defibrillator (AED) rates were significantly lower in residential as compared to non-residential arrests (41.0% vs 53.6%, p < 0.01; 0.4% vs 10.8%, p < 0.01 respectively). Residential BCPR increased from 15.8% (2010) to 57.1% (2016). Residential cardiac arrests had lower survival-to-discharge (2.9% vs 10.1%, p < 0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that location-type had an independent effect on survival, with residential arrests having poorer survival compared to non-residential cardiac arrests (adjusted OR 0.547 [0.435-0.688]). A test of statistical interaction showed a significant interaction effect between year and location-type for bystander CPR, with a narrowing of differences in bystander CPR between residential and non-residential cardiac arrests over the years.

CONCLUSION

Residential cardiac arrests had poorer bystander intervention and survival from 2010 to 2016 in Singapore. BCPR had improved more in residential arrests compared to non-residential arrests over a period of city-wide interventions to improve BCPR.

Private residence as a location of cardiac arrest may have a deleterious effect on the outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in patients with an initial non-shockable cardiac rhythm: A multicentre retrospective cohort study

AIM

We compared the outcomes between patients who experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest at private residences and public locations to investigate whether patient and bystander characteristics can explain the poorer outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests at private residences.

METHODS

Adult patients with intrinsic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (n = 6,191, age ≥18 years) were selected from a prospectively collected Japanese database (January 2012 and March 2013). Patients were grouped according to arrest location into private-residence or control (e.g., public station or road, workplace, school, and other public locations) groups. The primary outcome was a favourable neurological outcome 1 month after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

RESULTS

The arrest location and initial cardiac rhythm had interaction effects on the outcome. After adjusting for patient and bystander characteristics and relative to the control group, a significantly poorer 1-month neurological outcome was observed in the private-residence group if the initial cardiac rhythm was non-shockable (odds ratio: 0.36, 95% confidence interval: 0.24-0.54), while it was not significant if the initial cardiac rhythm was shockable (odds ratio: 1.16, 95% confidence interval: 0.74-1.84).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest at private residences had poorer outcomes than those with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest at public locations, even after adjusting for patient and bystander characteristics, if the initial cardiac rhythm was non-shockable. Our results suggest that poorer patient and bystander characteristics do not completely explain the poorer outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests; there may be unknown mechanisms through which the location of cardiac arrest affect the outcomes.

Racial Differences in the Utilization of Guideline-Recommended and Life-Sustaining Procedures During Hospitalizations for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

BACKGROUND

Racial and ethnic minorities are at risk for disparities in quality of care after out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (OHCA). As such, we examined associations between race and ethnicity and use of guideline-recommended and life-sustaining procedures during hospitalizations for OHCA.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study of hospitalizations for OHCA in all acute-care, non-federal California hospitals from 2009 to 2011. Associations between the use of (1) guideline-recommended procedures (cardiac catheterization for ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia, therapeutic hypothermia), (2) life-sustaining procedures (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG)/tracheostomy, renal replacement therapy (RRT)), and (3) palliative care and race/ethnicity were examined using hierarchical logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Among 51,198 hospitalizations for OHCA, unadjusted rates of cardiac catheterization were 34.9% in Whites, 19.8% in Blacks, 27.2% in Hispanics, and 30.9% in Asians (P < 0.01). Rates of therapeutic hypothermia were 2.3% in Whites, 1.1% in Blacks, 1.3% in Hispanics, and 1.9% in Asians (P < 0.01). Rates of PEG/tracheostomy and RRT were 2.2% and 9.8% in Whites, 5.7% and 19.9% in Blacks, 4.2% and 19.9% in Hispanics, and 3.4% and 18.2% in Asians, respectively (P < 0.01). Rates of palliative care were 14.8% in Whites, 9.6% in Blacks, 10.1% in Hispanics, and 14.3% in Asians (P < 0.01). Differences in utilization of procedures persisted after adjustment for patient and hospital-related factors.

CONCLUSION

Racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive guideline-recommended interventions and palliative care, and more likely to receive life-sustaining treatments following OHCA. These findings suggest that significant disparities exist in medical care after OHCA.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Adults Over 80: Outcome and the Perception of Appropriateness by Clinicians

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence of clinician perception of inappropriate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) regarding the last out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) encountered in an adult 80 years or older and its relationship to patient outcome.

DESIGN

Subanalysis of an international multicenter cross-sectional survey (REAPPROPRIATE).

SETTING

Out-of-hospital CPR attempts registered in Europe, Israel, Japan, and the United States in adults 80 years or older.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 611 clinicians of whom 176 (28.8%) were doctors, 123 (20.1%) were nurses, and 312 (51.1%) were emergency medical technicians/paramedics.

RESULTS AND MEASUREMENTS

The last CPR attempt among patients 80 years or older was perceived as appropriate by 320 (52.4%) of the clinicians; 178 (29.1%) were uncertain about the appropriateness, and 113 (18.5%) perceived the CPR attempt as inappropriate. The survival to hospital discharge for the "appropriate" subgroup was 8 of 265 (3.0%), 1 of 164 (.6%) in the "uncertain" subgroup, and 2 of 107 (1.9%) in the "inappropriate" subgroup (P = .23); 503 of 564 (89.2%) CPR attempts involved non-shockable rhythms. CPR attempts in nursing homes accounted for 124 of 590 (21.0%) of the patients and were perceived as appropriate by 44 (35.5%) of the clinicians; 45 (36.3%) were uncertain about the appropriateness; and 35 (28.2%) perceived the CPR attempt as inappropriate. The survival to hospital discharge for the nursing home patients was 0 of 107 (0%); 104 of 111 (93.7%) CPR attempts involved non-shockable rhythms. Overall, 36 of 543 (6.6%) CPR attempts were undertaken despite a known written do not attempt resuscitation decision; 14 of 36 (38.9%) clinicians considered this appropriate, 9 of 36 (25.0%) were uncertain about its appropriateness, and 13 of 36 (36.1%) considered this inappropriate.

CONCLUSION

Our findings show that despite generally poor outcomes for older patients undergoing CPR, many emergency clinicians do not consider these attempts at resuscitation to be inappropriate. A professional and societal debate is urgently needed to ensure that first we do not harm older patients by futile CPR attempts. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:39-45, 2019.