Study Compares Rural and Urban Cardiac Arrest Outcomes
2006 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com) -- Rural and urban outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests differ largely because of ambulance response time differences.
Researchers in Australia conducted a study "to compare the survival rate from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in rural and urban areas of Victoria, and to investigate the factors associated with these differences. This was a retrospective case series using data from the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry. All out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring in Victoria that were attended by Rural Ambulance Victoria or the Metropolitan Ambulance Service were surveyed. Included were 1790 people who suffered a bystander-witnessed cardiac arrest between January 2002 and December 2003."
P.A. Jennings and colleagues, Rural Ambulance Victoria, wrote, "Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation was more likely in rural (65.7%) than urban areas (48.4%) (p=.001). Urban patients with bystander-witnessed cardiac arrest were more likely to arrive at an emergency department with a cardiac output (odds ratio [OR], 2.92; 95% CI, 1.65-5.17; p<.001), and to be discharged from hospital alive than rural patients (urban, 125/1685 [7.4%]; rural, 2/105 [1.9%]; OR, 4.13; 95% CI, 1.09-34.91).
"Major factors associated with survival to hospital admission were distance of cardiac arrest from the closest ambulance branch (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.82-0.92), endotracheal intubation (OR, 3.46; 95% CI, 2.49-4.80), and the presence of asystole (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.38-0.67) or pulseless electrical activity (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.56-0.95) on arrival of the first ambulance crew."
The researchers concluded, "Survival rates differ between urban and rural cardiac arrest patients. This is largely due to a difference in ambulance response time. As it is impractical to substantially decrease response times in rural areas, other strategies that may improve outcome after cardiac arrest require investigation."
Jennings and colleagues published the results of their research in the Medical Journal of Australia (Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Victoria: rural and urban outcomes. Med J Aust, 2006;185(3):135-139).
For additional information, contact P.A. Jennings, Rural Ambulance Victoria, Prehospital Emergency & Trauma Research, Geelong, Vic, Australia.
The publisher of the Medical Journal of Australia can be contacted at: Australasian Med Publ Co. Ltd., Level 2, 26-32 Pyrmont Bridge Rd., Pyrmont, NSW 2009, Australia.
Keywords: Geelong, Australia, Ambulance, Cardiology, Critical Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Healthcare, Medical Device, Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest.
This article was prepared by Biotech Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2006, Biotech Week via NewsRx.com.
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