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Lee H, Oh J, Choi HJ, Shin H, Cho Y, Lee J. The Incidence and Outcomes of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea: Multicenter Registry Study. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2024; 10:e52402. [PMID: 38913998 PMCID: PMC11231615 DOI: 10.2196/52402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 12/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and disrupted the chain of survival. Even after the end of the pandemic, the risk of new variants and surges persists. Analyzing the characteristics of OHCA during the pandemic is important to prepare for the next pandemic and to avoid repeated negative outcomes. However, previous studies have yielded somewhat varied results, depending on the health care system or the specific characteristics of social structures. OBJECTIVE We aimed to investigate and compare the incidence, outcomes, and characteristics of OHCA during the prepandemic and pandemic periods using data from a nationwide multicenter OHCA registry. METHODS We conducted a multicenter, retrospective, observational study using data from the Korean Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Consortium (KoCARC) registry. This study included adult patients with OHCA in South Korea across 3 distinct 1-year periods: the prepandemic period (from January to December 2019), early phase pandemic period (from July 2020 to June 2021), and late phase pandemic period (from July 2021 to June 2022). We extracted and contrasted the characteristics of patients with OHCA, prehospital time factors, and outcomes for the patients across these 3 periods. The primary outcomes were survival to hospital admission and survival to hospital discharge. The secondary outcome was good neurological outcome. RESULTS From the 3 designated periods, a total of 9031 adult patients with OHCA were eligible for analysis (prepandemic: n=2728; early pandemic: n=2954; and late pandemic: n=3349). Witnessed arrest (P<.001) and arrest at home or residence (P=.001) were significantly more frequent during the pandemic period than during the prepandemic period, and automated external defibrillator use by bystanders was lower in the early phase of the pandemic than during other periods. As the pandemic advanced, the rates of the first monitored shockable rhythm (P=.10) and prehospital endotracheal intubation (P<.001) decreased significantly. Time from cardiac arrest cognition to emergency department arrival increased sequentially (prepandemic: 33 min; early pandemic: 35 min; and late pandemic: 36 min; P<.001). Both survival and neurological outcomes worsened as the pandemic progressed, with survival to discharge showing the largest statistical difference (prepandemic: 385/2728, 14.1%; early pandemic: 355/2954, 12%; and late pandemic: 392/3349, 11.7%; P=.01). Additionally, none of the outcomes differed significantly between the early and late phase pandemic periods (all P>.05). CONCLUSIONS During the pandemic, especially amid community COVID-19 surges, the incidence of OHCA increased while survival rates and good neurological outcome at discharge decreased. Prehospital OHCA factors, which are directly related to OHCA prognosis, were adversely affected by the pandemic. Ongoing discussions are needed to maintain the chain of survival in the event of a new pandemic. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03222999; https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03222999.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heekyung Lee
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Jaehoon Oh
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyuk Joong Choi
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyungoo Shin
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Yongil Cho
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Juncheol Lee
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Hanyang University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Ruiz Azpiazu JI, Fernández del Valle P, Echarri Sucunza A, Iglesias Vázquez JA, del Pozo C, Knox ECL, Azeli Y, Sánchez García FJ, Fernández Barreras C, Escriche MC, Martín Hernández PJ, Juanes García M, Ramos García N, Royo Embid S, Cortés Ramas JA, Mateo-Rodríguez I, Sola Muñoz S, Alcalá-Zamora Marcó E, Fornér Canos AB, Mainar Gómez B, Dacal Pérez P, Camacho Leis C, García Cortés JJ, Hernández Royano JM, Escalada Roig X, Daponte Codina A, Rosell Ortiz F. Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Following the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open 2024; 7:e2352377. [PMID: 38261321 PMCID: PMC10807256 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.52377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Importance Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) health care provision may be a good indicator of the recovery of the health care system involved in OHCA care following the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a lack of data regarding outcomes capable of verifying this recovery. Objective To determine whether return to spontaneous circulation, overall survival, and survival with good neurological outcome increased in patients with OHCA since the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control in 2022 compared with prepandemic and pandemic levels. Design, Setting, and Participants This observational cohort study was conducted to examine health care response and survival with good neurological outcome at hospital discharge in patients treated following OHCA. A 3-month period, including the first wave of the pandemic (February 1 to April 30, 2020), was compared with 2 periods before (April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018) and after (January 1 to December 31, 2022) the pandemic. Data analysis was performed in July 2023. Emergency medical services (EMS) serving a population of more than 28 million inhabitants across 10 Spanish regions participated. Patients with OHCA were included if participating EMS initiated resuscitation or continued resuscitation initiated by a first responder. Exposure The pandemic was considered to be under control following the official declaration that infection with SARS-CoV-2 was to be considered another acute respiratory infection. Main Outcome and Measures The main outcomes were return of spontaneous circulation, overall survival, and survival at hospital discharge with good neurological outcome, expressed as unimpaired or minimally impaired cerebral performance. Results A total of 14 732 patients (mean [SD] age, 64.2 [17.2] years; 10 451 [71.2%] male) were included, with 6372 OHCAs occurring during the prepandemic period, 1409 OHCAs during the pandemic period, and 6951 OHCAs during the postpandemic period. There was a higher incidence of OHCAs with a resuscitation attempt in the postpandemic period compared with the pandemic period (rate ratio, 4.93; 95% CI, 4.66-5.22; P < .001), with lower incidence of futile resuscitation for OHCAs (2.1 per 100 000 person-years vs 1.3 per 100 000 person-years; rate ratio, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.71-0.92; P < .001). Recovery of spontaneous circulation at hospital admission increased from 20.5% in the pandemic period to 30.5% in the postpandemic period (relative risk [RR], 1.08; 95% CI, 1.06-1.10; P < .001). In the same way, overall survival at discharge increased from 7.6% to 11.2% (RR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.21-1.75; P < .001), with 6.6% of patients being discharged with good neurological status (Cerebral Performance Category Scale categories 1-2) in the pandemic period compared with 9.6% of patients in the postpandemic period (RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04-1.10; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, survival with good neurological outcome at hospital discharge following OHCA increased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Ignacio Ruiz Azpiazu
- Servicio de Servicio de Emergencias 061 de La Rioja, Centro de Investigación Biomédica de La Rioja, Logroño, Spain
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Youcef Azeli
- Sistema de Emergencies Mediques, Catalunya, Institut d’ Investigació Sanitaria Pere i Virgili, Tarragona (IISPV), Tarragona, Spain
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Inmaculada Mateo-Rodríguez
- Andalusian School of Public Health, Universidad Nacional a Distancia, CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health, Granada, Spain
| | - Silvia Sola Muñoz
- Sistema de Emergencies Mediques, Catalunya, Institut d’ Investigació Sanitaria Pere i Virgili, Tarragona (IISPV), Tarragona, Spain
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Xavier Escalada Roig
- Sistema de Emergencies Mediques, Catalunya, Institut d’ Investigació Sanitaria Pere i Virgili, Tarragona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antonio Daponte Codina
- Andalusian School of Public Health, Universidad Nacional a Distancia, CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health, Granada, Spain
| | - Fernando Rosell Ortiz
- Servicio de Servicio de Emergencias 061 de La Rioja, Centro de Investigación Biomédica de La Rioja, Logroño, Spain
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