Cohort study
Declining Trend of Sudden Cardiac Death in Younger Individuals: A 20-Year Nationwide Study
- Nationwide cohort study
- 20-year
Authors' conclusion
SCD incidence rates in young individuals declined by 49% over the past 2 decades.
Study context
- Population
- All individuals aged 1–35 years living in Denmark, 2000–201947.5 million person-years
- Outcome
- Temporal trend in SCD incidence (percentage change annualized)
- Follow-up
- 2000 through 2019
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
SCD incidence · 2000–2019
Sudden cardiac death (SCDs) identified (median age 29 years; 69% male)
1057
Overall SCD incidence
2.2 per 100 000 person-years
Annual decline in SCD incidence
3.31% (95% CI 2.42-4.20)
Reduction during the study
49% (95% CI 38.7-57.6)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Witnessed vs unwitnessed SCD
- Witnessed SCD, percentage change annualized
- −7.03% (95% CI −8.57 to −5.48)
- Unwitnessed SCD, percentage change annualized (95% CI −1.48 to 1.31); no change
- −0.09%
- Increase in proportion of unwitnessed SCD (P<0.001)
- 79%
Survival after OHCA (age 1–35 years)
- Increased from 3.9% to 28%, mainly due to more bystander CPR and defibrillation
Diagnostic rates of inherited cardiac diseases
- 10-fold increase, IRR
- 10.4 (95% CI 8.46-12.90)
ICD implantation rate
- 2-fold increase, IRR
- 1.97 (95% CI 1.51-2.60)
Original publication
Declining Trend of Sudden Cardiac Death in Younger Individuals: A 20-Year Nationwide Study. Circulation. Published 27 November 2024. doi:10.1161/circulationaha.124.069431
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it