Payer status, income and age all had an increased association with mortality for patients seeking treatment for cardiac arrest at emergency departments, according to a study published Sept. 20 in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.
Researchers from Albuquerque-based University of New Mexico led the study, which compiled Nationwide Emergency Department Sample data from 2016 through 2020 for analysis.
Here are eight takeaways from the study:
- A total of 699,822,424 emergency department visits occurred between 2016 and 2020, of which 1,414,060 were for cardiac arrest.
- Of the visits for cardiac arrest, 61% were male. The mean age was 66 years for females and 63 for males.
- More than half (55%) of patients visiting the ED for cardiac arrest had Medicare for insurance, followed by 18.9% with private insurance, 12.8% with Medicaid and 10.4% identifying as self-payers.
- Almost half (45.2%) of the ED cardiac arrest visits occurred in the South Atlantic region, followed by 20.1% in the Midwest, 17.8% in the West and 16.9% in the Northeast.
- Of the 1,414,060 cardiac arrest visits, 52.6% of those patients died while in the ED. The combined ED and inpatient mortality ranged between 71.9% and 73.8% per year between 2016 and 2019, but rose to 75.4% in 2020.
- The risk of ED mortality from cardiac arrest increased as age and income increased.
- White patients had higher risk of ED mortality from cardiac arrest compared to Asian or Pacific Islander, Black and Hispanic patients.
- Patients with private insurance had a lower mortality risk compared to self-paying, no charge, Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Read the full study here.