Long-Term Survival and Life-Sustaining Device Use in Survivors of First and Second Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest:...

Long-term surveillance of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survivors is increasingly important, but patients who survive a second OHCA are rarely characterized because of the scarcity of such cases. The nationwide claims-based health data provide an opportunity to identify this uncommon survivor population and evaluate postdischarge outcomes at the population level. Understanding the prognosis and care needs of second-time OHCA survivors may help inform postarrest surveillance, risk stratification, and long-term care planning.

This study aimed to compare the clinical characteristics of adult patients who survived a single OHCA versus those who survived a second OHCA during a 5-year follow-up and assess and contrast their 5-year survival outcomes.

We conducted a nationwide retrospective cohort study using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (2010-2020) in Taiwan. Survivors at discharge were classified as 1-OHCA survivors, defined as patients who survived exactly 1 OHCA episode and had no documented recurrent OHCA during follow-up, or 2-OHCA survivors, defined as patients who experienced exactly 2 documented OHCA episodes and survived to discharge after both events. Patients with more than 2 OHCA episodes were excluded. Postdischarge survival was measured from the qualifying discharge date: discharge after the first OHCA for 1-OHCA survivors and discharge after the second OHCA for 2-OHCA survivors. Variables included demographics, comorbidities, health care use, and life-sustaining device status. Five-year mortality was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests. Adjusted hazard ratios were derived from multivariable Cox models. Device use patterns were compared using Cochran-Armitage trend tests.

Among 239,929 OHCA cases, 229,047 were eligible; 15,617 survived to hospital discharge. Five-year mortality was substantially higher among 2-OHCA survivors than among 1-OHCA survivors (191/201, 95% vs 6850/14,494, 47.3%; log-rank P<.001). In patients with 1 OHCA, mortality increased with age, male sex, and nasogastric tube use, whereas >3 outpatient visits, Foley catheter use, and tracheostomy or ventilation were associated with lower observed postdischarge mortality. In the 2-OHCA group, the rate of device-free status was lower, while the triple-device use rate was higher.

In this nationwide claims-based surveillance study, patients who survived discharge after a second OHCA represented a rare and clinically vulnerable postarrest population with poor subsequent 5-year survival and greater life-sustaining device dependence. Device-related variables should be interpreted as claims-based markers of postdischarge dependency, care setting, survivorship, and care intensity rather than evidence that device placement itself improves survival. As 2-OHCA survivor status is conditional on survival to a second OHCA and discharge after that event, these findings should be interpreted as descriptive and hypothesis-generating rather than causal. Population-level health data may support long-term postarrest surveillance and care planning for rare OHCA survivor populations.