[The Incidence and Characteristics of Out-of-Hospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest in the Gyeongnam Region, the Republic of Korea in 2021].

This study was aimed to investigate the incidence and characteristics of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest (OHCA) events in the Gyeongnam region using results from the Korean Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. In 2021, we completed curation of data from the medical records of 30,041 patients with OHCA. Among these, 5,491 records for patients in the Gyeongnam region were analyzed. A recent increase was noted in the incidence of OHCA among Gyeongnam residents, and the rate of survival and neurological recovery decreased over the past 6 years (2016 to 2021). In addition to patients being discharged alive from the hospital after sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), it is important for patients to be able to lead a normal life. Overall, 1,326 patients (4.0% of 33,041 patients) experienced good neurological outcomes. Of these, 202 patients (15.2% of 1,326 patients) were from the Gyeongnam region. For most patients, sex, age, arrest place, cause of cardiac arrest, witnesses, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and return of spontaneous circulation were correlated with good neurological outcomes. In particular, the rate of bystander CPR was lower in Gyeongnam region than the overall. Strengthening the capacity to quickly respond to emergency situations in the event of SCA may help improve the survival rate and SCA prognosis in Gyeongnam region in the future.