Impact of early interventions by a cardiac rehabilitation team on the social rehabilitation of patients resuscitated from cardiogenic out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the effects of intervention performed by a multidisciplinary cardiac rehabilitation (CR) team on the social rehabilitation of patients with cardiogenic out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest (OHCA) in the acute phase.


METHODS
This study included 122 patients who were resuscitated after cardiogenic OHCA during a 10-year period. They were divided into two groups: including a non-CR group of patients (n=58) who were admitted before the CR team started performing systematic intervention and a CR group (n=64) who were admitted after the intervention was initiated. The following items were examined for each group: treatment condition at onset, contents of treatment, primary disease, presence or absence of underlying disease, presence or absence of complications, general physical and neurological outcome, duration of hospital stay, and status of social rehabilitation.


RESULTS
Although the number of patients with cardiogenic OHCA did not markedly change, the number of bystanders participating in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was significantly higher in the CR group versus the non-CR group (p<0.01). The effect of bystanders participating in CPR also significantly reduced the mortality outcome (p<0.05 versus the group without CPR), and patients in the CR group were more likely to achieve social rehabilitation (p<0.05 versus the group without CPR). Moreover, the number of patients who returned to society one year later was increased in the CR group versus the non-CR group (p<0.05). The incidence of respiratory complications was also significantly lower in the CR group versus the non-CR group (p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Along with the usefulness of rapid pre-hospital aid, our results suggest that systemic intervention performed by the CR team administered while the patient was in the acute phase may have promoted social rehabilitation of patients resuscitated after cardiogenic OHCA.
Medical Education Center, Hyogo College of Medicine; Cardiovascular Division, Department of Internal Medicine Hyogo College of Medicine, Japan.
Keiko
K
Takahashi
Naoki
N
Sasanuma
Yusuke
Y
Itani
Takashi
T
Tanaka
Kazuhisa
K
Domen
Tohru
T
Masuyama
Mitsumasa
M
Ohyanagi
Keiichiro
K
Suzuki
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D058992:Social Participation