Incidence, Predictors, and Outcomes of In‐Hospital Cardiac Arrest in COVID‐19 Patients Admitted to Intensive and Non‐Intensive Care Units: Insights From the AHA COVID‐19 CVD Registry

Acharya, Prakash; Ranka, Sagar; Sethi, Prince; Bharati, Rajani; Hu, Jinxiang; Noheria, Amit; Nallamothu, Brahmajee K.; Hayek, Salim S.; Gupta, Kamal

BACKGROUND: Limited information is available regarding in‐hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) in patients with COVID‐19. METHODS AND RESULTS: We leveraged the American Heart Association COVID‐19 Cardiovascular Disease (AHA COVID‐19 CVD) Registry to conduct a cohort study of adults hospitalized for COVID‐19. IHCA was defined as those with documentation of cardiac arrest requiring medication or electrical shock for resuscitation. Mixed effects models with random intercepts were used to identify independent predictors of IHCA and mortality while accounting for clustering at the hospital level. The study cohort included 8518 patients (6080 not in the intensive care unit [ICU]) with mean age of 61.5 years (SD 17.5). IHCA occurred in 509 (5.9%) patients overall with 375 (73.7%) in the ICU and 134 (26.3%) patients not in the ICU. The majority of patients at the time of ICHA were not in a shockable rhythm (76.5%). Independent predictors of IHCA included older age, Hispanic ethnicity (odds ratio [OR], 1.9; CI, 1.4–2.4; P<0.001), and non‐Hispanic Black race (OR, 1.5; CI, 1.1–1.9; P=0.004). Other predictors included oxygen use on admission, quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score on admission, and hypertension. Overall, 35 (6.9%) patients with IHCA survived to discharge, with 9.1% for ICU and 0.7% for non‐ICU patients. CONCLUSIONS: Older age, Black race, and Hispanic ethnicity are independent predictors of IHCA in patients with COVID‐19. Although the incidence is much lower than in ICU patients, approximately one‐quarter of IHCA events in patients with COVID‐19 occur in non‐ICU settings, with the latter having a substantially lower survival to discharge rate.