Patient cohorts of interest in resuscitation science - Aligning cardiac arrest registry outputs with stakeholder needs

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiac arrest registries can benchmark, enhance quality of care and provide data for research. Key stakeholders from Emergency Medical Communication Centre (EMCC), Emergency Medical Services (EMS), In-Hospital Care Providers (IHCP) and Recovery and Rehabilitation Providers (RRP) have different perspectives, and registry results and patient cohorts should be tailored to facilitate benchmarking, quality improvement projects and research in all sections of the chain of survival. In this paper, we describe different cohorts of interest, exemplified by data from the Norwegian Cardiac Arrest Registry (NorCAR).

Method: Data from NorCAR for patients registered in 2022 is presented as descriptive statistics.

Results: The patient cohort with treatment initiated by EMCC comprised 3591 patients (67/100,000 inhabitants). EMS attended 4150 patients with confirmed cardiac arrest (77/100,000 inhabitants) and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in 3083 patients (57/100,000 inhabitants). The patient cohort eligible for treatment by IHCP consists of 1114 patients admitted to hospital alive or with ongoing CPR, along with 1230 in-hospital cardiac arrest cases. The cohort eligible for rehabilitation and follow-up consists of 1227 patients who were alive 24 h after cardiac arrest, 705 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and 522 in-hospital cardiac arrests.

Conclusion: It is essential to clearly define the cohort of interest when engaging with different stakeholders and to provide data that facilitates quality improvement projects in all areas of the chain of survival. We recommend defining several subgroups of cardiac arrest patients to accommodate benchmarking, quality improvement projects and research relevant for all stakeholders involved in resuscitation and care of cardiac arrest patients.

Keywords: Cardiac arrest; Cardiology; Epidemiology; Registry; Reporting.