Acute cardiac care & resuscitation
Differences in health care utilization prior to cardiac arrest by shockable and non-shockable presenting rhythms: a case control study
Authors' conclusion
Shockable and non-shockable OHCA show high rates of health care utilization prior to cardiac arrest. However, there were important differences in health care utilization between the shockable and non-shockable groups.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) from 2009 to 2019 in the British Columbia (BC) Cardiac Arrest Registry, presenting with shockable or non-shockable rhythms, and matched controlsOHCA patients matched 4:1 to controls
- Comparison
- OHCA patients with shockable and non-shockable rhythms vs matched controls
- Shockable groupn = 3,461
- Non-shockable groupn = 11,470
- Outcome
- Hospital admissions or emergency department (ED) visits
- Follow-up
- 3 years prior to arrest
Methodological detailsAge, sex and geographic population-matched controls, matched 4:1 to controls
- Age, sex and geographic population-matched controls
- Matched 4:1 to controls
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Each group vs controlsOdds ratio (95% CI)
Shockable group
1.74(1.60–1.88)
Non-shockable group
3.13(2.99–3.29)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Secondary outcomes
All health care encounters (hospitalization, emergency department (ED) or outpatient visits)
- More common in both shockable and non-shockable cardiac arrests, with a higher rate of cardiovascular (CV) encounters
Non-CV encounters
- Non-shockable cardiac arrests had higher relative rates of non-CV encounters
Biweekly rates of hospital and emergency visits leading up to OHCA · 6-24 weeks prior to arrest
- Increased for both groups, rising at 6-24 weeks prior to arrest
Original publication
Differences in health care utilization prior to cardiac arrest by shockable and non-shockable presenting rhythms: a case control study. Resuscitation. Published 25 March 2026. doi:10.
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