Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest data linkage project: 2017-2018 results

Demographics

Table 2 below shows there has been little change in the baseline demographics of patients with worked OHCA since 2011/12. The average (mean) age of patients in 2017/18 was 66 years compared with 67 years in 2011/12, while the proportion of males was 64% in 2017/18 compared to 63% in 2011/12.

Table 2: Characteristics of worked OHCA cases

Table 2 showing the characteristics of worked OHCA cases by the SAS each year between 2011/12 and 2017/18. Complete data for 2013/14 was not available and is omitted.

Additionally, the significant difference in the distribution of OHCA across SIMD quintiles remains the same. There has been little variation in the proportion of OHCA in each SIMD quintile over time, with SIMD1 (most deprived) containing roughly double the number of arrests compared to SIMD5 (least deprived), see figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Proportion of OHCA in each SIMD quintile over time

Figure 2: The line graph shows the proportion of worked OHCA in each SIMD quintile between 2011/12 and 2017/18. Complete data for 2013/14 was not available and is omitted.

The age of OHCA patients in each quintile has also remained stable between 2011/12 and 2017/18 with those in SIMD1 having a cardiac arrest around 8 years earlier than their contemporaries living in SIMD5 areas, see figure 3.

Figure 3: Age of worked arrests in each SIMD quintile, before and after the launch of Scotland's Strategy for OHCA

Figure 3 shows the mean age of patients with worked arrests in each SIMD quintile. Figures are shown for the whole period of 2011/12-2017/18, the period before the launch of the Strategy (2011/12-2014/15) and the period after the launch (2015/16-2017/18).