Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Emergency Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) care is a key indicator of healthcare system resilience.
• The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted healthcare delivery, with limited data on post-pandemic recovery for OHCA outcomes.
• Assessing OHCA survival rates pre-, during-, and post-pandemic is crucial for understanding healthcare system performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if key outcomes for OHCA patients improved in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic was controlled.
• To compare return to spontaneous circulation, overall survival, and survival with good neurological outcome against pre-pandemic and pandemic levels.

Main Methods:

• An observational cohort study analyzed data from 14,732 patients across 10 Spanish regions.
• Data from three periods were compared: pre-pandemic (2017-2018), pandemic (Feb-Apr 2020), and post-pandemic (2022).
• Outcomes included return of spontaneous circulation, overall survival, and survival with good neurological outcome at hospital discharge.

Main Results:

• The incidence of OHCA with resuscitation attempts increased significantly post-pandemic compared to the pandemic period.
• Return of spontaneous circulation improved from 20.5% during the pandemic to 30.5% post-pandemic.
• Overall survival at discharge rose from 7.6% to 11.2%, and survival with good neurological outcome increased from 6.6% to 9.6% post-pandemic.

Conclusions:

• Survival with good neurological outcome following OHCA significantly increased after the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The findings suggest a recovery and improvement in healthcare system performance for OHCA care post-pandemic.
• This study highlights the importance of monitoring OHCA outcomes to gauge healthcare system resilience.