Regional Variation in Outcomes of Hospitalized Patients Having Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

The aim of this study was to investigate patient outcomes after hospitalization for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the United States. We used the 2002 to 2013 Nationwide Inpatient Sample database to identify adults ≥18 years with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, principal diagnosis code of cardiorespiratory arrest (427.5) or ventricular fibrillation (VF) (427.41). In 4 predefined federal geographic regions: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West, means and proportions of survival, survival stratified by initial rhythm, hospital charges, and cost were estimated. Multiple linear and logistic regression models were conducted. Of the 154,177 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest hospitalized in the United States, 25,873 (16.8%) were in the Northeast, 38,296 (24.8%) in the Midwest, 57,305 (37.2%) in the South, and 32,703 (21.2%) in the West. Variability in survival was noted in VF arrests; compared with the Northeast, survival was higher in the Midwest and South (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02 to 1.32 and AOR 1.24, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.40, respectively), with no difference detected in the West (AOR 0.93, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.06). No variability in survival was noted after non-VF arrests (p >0.05). Hospital charges rose significantly across all regions of the United States (p-trend < 0.001) and were higher in the West compared with the Northeast (hospital charges >$109,000/admission, AOR 1.76; 95% CI 1.50 to 2.06). In conclusion, nationwide, we observed significant regional variability in survival of hospitalized patients after out of hospital VF cardiac arrest, no survival variability after non-VF arrests, and a steady increase in hospital charges.