Study: Hospital cardiac arrests deadlier at night
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) -- The chances of a hospital patient surviving cardiac arrest are lower during the night shift than at any other time of day, according to research released on Tuesday on thousands of U.S. cases.
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In the study, 18 percent of hospitalized patients survived if they experienced cardiac arrest -- a sudden loss of heart function -- during the day or evening. Only 13 percent survived if the episode occurred between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The findings, released at an annual meeting of the American Heart Association, were based on examinations of 17,991 reports of cardiac arrest in adults from 250 hospitals participating in a national registry. The incidents occurred between January 2000 and June 2002.
Cardiac arrest most often is caused by an irregular beating of the heart's lower chambers. To survive, patients need treatment with a defibrillator within minutes to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm.
Cardiac arrest is equally likely to occur at any time of day or night, the study found.
But during the night shift, when hospital staff levels usually are lowest, cardiac arrest was less likely to be recorded on heart monitors or witnessed by a worker.
"Most patients [at night] aren't monitored. They are just found by people walking in and finding them" in cardiac arrest, said researcher Dr. Mary Ann Peberdy, assistant professor of internal and emergency medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.
"This suggests these patients are being found later," which could explain the lower odds for survival, Peberdy said.
She also said there may be an unknown physiological reason why cardiac arrest is less survivable during the night.
Whatever the cause, hospitals should look for ways to improve nighttime procedures in order to boost survival rates, she said. New technologies, such as a bracelet that could sound an alarm when a patient's heart beat became abnormal, also may be possible, she said.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
