title: Relationship between age and outcomes of comatose cardiac arrest survivors in a setting without withdrawal of life support.
abstract: Previous studies on the relationship between age and outcomes after cardiac arrest were performed in settings where the majority of patients died after the withdrawal of life support (WLS). We examined the association between age and outcomes of comatose cardiac arrest survivors in a setting where WLS was not performed.
  
  
  
  This single-centre retrospective observational study included adult comatose cardiac arrest survivors treated with targeted temperature management. In Korea, WLS is not permitted unless the patient is pronounced brain-dead. The primary outcome was poor neurologic outcome at hospital discharge, defined as Cerebral Performance Categories scores of 3-5. The secondary outcomes were in-hospital and six-month mortalities.
  
  
  
  A total of 534 patients were analysed. In multivariate analysis, age was not associated with in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99-1.02), but it was independently associated with neurologic outcome at hospital discharge (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02-1.05) and six-month mortality (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.03-1.07). When age was categorised into 10-year intervals, age groups less than 61-70 years had significantly lower OR for poor neurologic outcome compared with the reference group (61-70 years), while the OR for poor neurologic outcome in age groups greater than 70 years did not differ from that in the reference group.
  
  
  
  In a setting where WLS is not performed, we found that age was not associated with in-hospital mortality but was independently associated with neurologic outcome at hospital discharge and six-month mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, 42 Jebong-ro, Donggu, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: bbukkuk@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Byung Kook
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Myongji Hospital, 697-24 Hwajung-dong, Deokyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: hypothermer@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Seung Joon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Myongji Hospital, 697-24 Hwajung-dong, Deokyang-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: defauth@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Chi Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, 42 Jebong-ro, Donggu, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: neoneti@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Kyung Woon
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Jeung
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, 42 Jebong-ro, Donggu, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: xnxn77@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Yong Hun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, 42 Jebong-ro, Donggu, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ggodhkekf@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Dong Hun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, 42 Jebong-ro, Donggu, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: magicwizard2@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Sung Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Gwangju Veterans Hospital, 99 Chumdanwolbong-ro, Gwangsangu, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: drcpr@naver.com.
authors.forename: Hyun Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital, 42 Jebong-ro, Donggu, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: minyi46@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Yong Il
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Min
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003128:Coma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced / Q000379:methods; D008020:Life Support Care; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Aged; Heart arrest; Induced hypothermia; Prognosis