Children in marginalized communities more likely to experience cardiac arrests

Targeted intervention efforts such as improving access to automated external defibrillators (AED) can help improve outcomes from POHCA. (RDNE Stock project/Pexels) Western study finds children in marginalized communities more likely to experience cardiac arrests A new study shows children living in marginalized communities are at a higher risk of experiencing paediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (POHCA) - a rare, life-threatening event occurring outside a hospital setting in which a child's heart suddenly stops beating. It is estimated in other studies that the survival rate for POHCA is less than 10 per cent, and one-third of the children who survive POHCA will develop a significant neurological condition. A province-wide case-control study from Western, Lawson Health Research Institute and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) addressed a gap in current literature related to how social determinants of health impact the risk of POHCA. The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association . "We know the outcomes for children who experience POHCA are really poor. Most don't survive, and those who do often develop new and severe neurological impairments," said lead author Samina Idrees, MSc'23 (epidemiology and biostatistics), who completed the work while studying at Western.