Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: Does rurality decrease chances of survival?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Geographical setting is seldomly taken into account when investigating out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). It is a common notion that living in rural areas means a lower chance of fast and effective helpwhen suffering a time-critical event. This retrospective cohort study investigates this hypothesis and compares across healthcare-divided administrative regions.

Methods

We included only witnessed OHCAs to minimize the risk that outcome was predetermined by time to caller arrival and/or recognition. Arrests were divided into public and residential. Residential arrests were categorized according to population density of the area in which they occurred. We investigated incidence, EMS response time and 30-day survival according to area type and subsidiarily by heal

SUBMITTER: Ringgren KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8819014 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature