[Click! Health] Higher Mortality and Depression After Cardiac Arrest... "Management Needed"

People who experience cardiac arrest and suffer from depression have been found to have a long-term mortality rate more than 40% higher. This was revealed in a paper titled “Analysis of Anxiety or Depression and Long-Term Mortality in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survivors” by Professor Jaehoon Oh’s team from the Department of Emergency Medicine at Hanyang University Hospital (Professors Yongil Jo and Juncheol Lee). The paper was published in the latest issue of the SCI-level international journal JAMA Network Open.

Professor Oh’s team analyzed 2,373 patients who were admitted due to Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) and survived for more than one year, from January 2005 to December 2015.

The average age of the patients was 53 years, and 78% were male. Among them, 397 patients (16.7%) were diagnosed with depression or anxiety, and compared to those without such diagnoses, the mortality rate during the follow-up period was over 41% higher in patients diagnosed with depression or anxiety. In particular, the mortality rate in the group diagnosed with depression increased by 44%.

The incidence rate of OHCA patients in South Korea is about 84 per 100,000 population. Although it is one of the major causes of death, patients who are resuscitated can expect good prognosis and long-term survival rates. However, most OHCA patients may experience neurological sequelae initially due to anoxia and ischemia-reperfusion injury, which affect them physically, cognitively, and psychosocially.

Professor Oh Jae-hoon

Professor Jaehoon Oh stated, “OHCA patients may experience physical difficulties due to complications such as hypoxic brain injury or heart failure, and after recovery, depression or anxiety disorders may develop.” He added, “Based on this study, it is important to recognize the need for accurate diagnosis of depression or anxiety by a psychiatrist after acute cardiac arrest treatment in OHCA patients, and for those diagnosed, regular and long-term follow-up should be utilized to reduce mortality.”