[Incidence of Out-of-hospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest in the Republic of Korea, 2023]

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) surveys have been conducted annually since 2008 to understand the incidence and treatment outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in Republic of Korea, and provide evidence-based data for related policymaking. In 2023, 33,586 cases with OHCA were transported by 119 emergency medical services. Male patients outnumbered female patients, and 53.5% of the cases were among individuals aged 70 years or older. By city and province, Gyeonggi had the highest number of cases (7,944), while Jeju had the highest incidence rate, with 95.1 cases per 100,000 population. The rate of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has shown an upward trend each year, surpassing 30% for the first time in 2023 and reaching 31.3%. The survival rate was 8.6%, and the brain function recovery rate was 5.6%, both returning to pre-coronavirus disease 2019 levels in 2019 (8.7% and 5.4%, respectively). When CPR was performed by bystanders, the survival rate was 13.2% and the brain function recovery rate was 9.8%, both higher than in cases where CPR was not performed. To improve the survival rate of patients with SCA, raising awareness about CPR and ensuring that people are trained to perform it in real-life situations is important.