title: Representativity and co-morbidity: Two factors of importance when reporting health status among survivors of cardiac arrest.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Reports on differences between respondents and non-respondents of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survivors are sparse. This study compares respondents with non-respondents in a follow-up study of a consecutive sample of OHCA survivors and describes the relation between respondents' self-reported morbidity and health.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaires were administered within 12 months after the OHCA. The study population was adult patients who had survived an OHCA during 2008 to 2011, with a cerebral performance score of ≤2 at discharge. The patients were identified through the Swedish registry of OHCA. The Self-administered comorbidity questionnaire and EQ VAS (Euroqol questionnaire visual analogue scale) was used to measure morbidity and health status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 298 survivors, 224 were eligible for the study and 127 responded. Mean time from cardiac arrest (CA) to follow up was 178 days. Comparing the 127 respondents with the 97 lost to follow-up and non-respondents, no significant differences were found in terms of age, sex, factors at resuscitation and in-hospital interventions. The EQ VAS median was 75 (25th,75th percentile 60,80)). Self-rated health differed between respondents reporting 0-2 conditions (n=68) and respondents reporting more than two (n=43), median EQ VAS 78 (68,90) and 65 (50,80)), respectively; p-value 0.0001.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite a limited response rate, representativeness in terms of patient characteristics among survivors of OHCA with an acceptable cerebral function is achievable. A considerable proportion of the survivors lived with the burden of multi-morbidity which worsened health.
authors: Institute of Health and Care Sciences, University of Gothenburg, PO Box 457, SE 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: asa.axelsson@fhs.gu.se.
authors: Åsa B
authors: ÅB
authors: Axelsson
authors: Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital, Nesoddtangen, Norway. Electronic address: katharina.Sunnerhagen@neuro.gu.se.
authors: Katharina S
authors: KS
authors: Sunnerhagen
authors: Institute of Internal Medicine, Department of Metabolism and Cardiovascular Research, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, SE-413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden; The Prehospital Research Center Western Sweden, Prehospen University College of Borås, SE-501 90 Borås, Sweden. Electronic address: johan.herlitz@gu.se.
authors: Johan
authors: J
authors: Herlitz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors
keywords: Cardiac arrest; Comorbidity; Follow-up; Outcome; Representative; Survivors