Long-term prognosis after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
OBJECTIVE
In this study we aimed to report survival beyond 6 months, including quality of life, for patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with a physician-based EMS in an urban area.


METHODS
We collected data related to OHCA prospectively during a 2-year period. Long-term survival was determined by cross-referencing our database with two Danish national registries. Patients older than 18 years who had survived for more than 6 months after OHCA were contacted, and after informed written consent was obtained, an interview was conducted in their home and a questionnaire on quality of life (SF-36) and the mini mental state examination (MMSE) were administered.


RESULTS
We had data on 984 cases of OHCA. In 512 cases CPR was attempted and at 6 months, a total of 63 patients were alive corresponding to 12.3% [95% CI: 9.7-15.5%] of all who were treated. Of the 33 patients examined, the median MMSE was 29 (16-30) and two patients, corresponding to 6%, [95% CI: 0.7-20.6%] had an MMSE below 24. Two out of eight aspects of the SF-36 were significantly worse than national norms at the same age, but none of the summary scores differed significantly.


CONCLUSIONS
Survival beyond 6 months was found in 12.3% OHCA in a physician-based EMS. Summary scores of quality of life were not significantly different from the national norm but 2 out of 8 subscores were lower. Signs of dementia were uncommon as only 6% had an MMSE score below 24.
Horsted
Tina I
TI
Department of Anaesthesia, Centre of Head and Orthopaedics 4231, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Rasmussen
Lars S
LS
Meyhoff
Christian S
CS
Nielsen
Søren L
SL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003718:Denmark; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population