• Furqan B Irfan, Zain Ali Bhutta, Maaret Castren, Lahn Straney, Therese Djarv, Tooba Tariq, Stephen Hodges Thomas, Guillaume Alinier, Loua Al Shaikh, Robert Campbell Owen, Jassim Al Suwaidi, Ashfaq Shuaib, Rajvir Singh, and Peter Alistair Cameron.
• Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, SE-118 83 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Emergency Medicine, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, PO Box 3050, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: furqan.irfan@gmail.com.
• Int. J. Cardiol. 2016 Nov 15; 223: 1007-1013.

BackgroundOut-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) studies from the Middle East and Asian region are limited. This study describes the epidemiology, emergency health services, and outcomes of OHCA in Qatar.MethodsThis was a prospective nationwide population-based observational study on OHCA patients in Qatar according to Utstein style guidelines, from June 2012 to May 2013. Data was collected from various sources; the national emergency medical service, 4 emergency departments, and 8 public hospitals.ResultsThe annual crude incidence of presumed cardiac OHCA attended by EMS was 23.5 per 100,000. The age-sex standardized incidence was 87.8 per 100,000 population. Of the 447 OHCA patients included in the final analysis, most were male (n=360, 80.5%) with median age of 51years (IQR=39-66). Frequently observed nationalities were Qatari (n=89, 19.9%), Indian (n=74, 16.6%) and Nepalese (n=52, 11.6%). Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was carried out in 92 (20.6%) OHCA patients. Survival rate was 8.1% (n=36) and multivariable logistic regression indicated that initial shockable rhythm (OR 13.4, 95% CI 5.4-33.3, p=0.001) was associated with higher odds of survival while male gender (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.1-0.8, p=0.01) and advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) (OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.04-0.5, p=0.02) were associated with lower odds of survival.ConclusionsStandardized incidence and survival rates were comparable to Western countries. Although expatriates comprise more than 80% of the population, Qataris contributed 20% of the total cardiac arrests observed. There are significant opportunities to improve outcomes, including community-based CPR and defibrillation training.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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