The epidemiology of in-hospital cardiac arrests in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Background: The epidemiology of in-hospital cardiac arrests (IHCA) in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) has not been systematically assessed. Aim: To conduct a systematic review of the frequency, characteristics and outcomes of adult IHCA in ANZ. Methods: Medline search for studies published in 1964–2014 using MeSH terms ‘arrest AND hospital AND Australia’, ‘arrest AND hospital AND New Zealand’, ‘inpatient AND arrest AND Australia’ and ‘inpatient AND arrest AND New Zealand’. Results: We screened 934 studies, analysed 50 and included 30. Frequency of IHCA ranged from 1.31 to 6.11 per 1000 admissions in 4 population studies and 0.58 to 4.59 per 1000 in 16 cohort studies. The frequency was 4.11 v..