Temporal Trends in Outcomes After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Transported to Critical Care Medical Centers in Japan, 2014-2022: A Nationwide Retrospective Observational Study.
Critical care medicine · 2026-03-18 · Registry study
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate temporal trends in clinical outcomes among nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients transported to critical care medical centers (CCMCs) in Japan. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Nationwide multicenter registry involving CCMCs in Japan, which are government-designated advanced emergency care institutions specializing in intensive resuscitation and post-cardiac arrest management. Data were obtained from the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine OHCA (JAAM-OHCA) registry from June 1, 2014, to December 31, 2022. PATIENTS: Adult patients (≥ 18 yr old) with nontraumatic OHCA who were transported to CCMCs and had Utstein-style prehospital data available. Patients were categorized into three calendar periods (2014-2016, 2017-2019, and 2020-2022) for temporal comparison. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Among 61,725 eligible patients, the proportion with favorable neurologic outcomes decreased from 3.6% (2014-2016) to 3.3% (2017-2019) and further to 2.5% (2020-2022). Using multivariable logistic regression, the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for favorable neurologic outcome were 1.01 (95% CI, 0.89-1.15) in 2017-2019 and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.72-0.94) in 2020-2022, compared with 2014-2016. Similarly, 30-day survival declined during the same period, from 6.9% to 6.8% and 5.4%. In most predefined subgroups, similar trends were observed. In contrast, neurologic outcomes improved among candidates for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR), with an aOR of 1.43 (95% CI, 1.06-1.93) in 2020-2022 compared with 2014-2016. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes among OHCA patients transported to CCMCs remained stable until 2019 but declined during the COVID-19 pandemic period. However, improved outcomes among patients eligible for ECPR suggest that timely and targeted post-arrest interventions may improve outcomes in selected populations.