Data of "An Observational Study of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests Reported In Indian Print Media"

Background:Newspapers in India often report incidents of cardiac arrest. Media reports are a source for raising awareness of cardiac arrest and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) among the public. Data on Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests(OHCA) is limited in India. Methods: The study aims at evaluating the reports of OHCA as reported in print media (particularly newspapers in India) with Utstein template-portrayal of cardiac arrest, demographics, patient and resuscitation characteristics. Methods: Study design: This is an observational study of a cohort of cardiac arrests reported in selected Indian English newspapers. Setting:There has been an attempt in securing national data on OHCA.There is no single source or agency in India through which all media reports can be collected. Only English newspapers with websites and data available for public domain were accessed for reports of cardiac arrest. Participants: Subjects from reports of cardiac arrest in various locations in India. Sources of data: Newspaper reports from English language Indian newspapers with wider circulation. They were retrieved from the archives during 2001-2019 from the websites of : The Hindu, The New Indian Express, The Times of India, Hans India and The Pioneer. All the articles are screened for eligibility. Initially, those reports with a search word "cardiac arrest" were retrieved. Articles eligible for inclusion included persons sustaining cardiac arrest at several Indian locations. Reports with no reference to a possible cardiac arrest were excluded. Articles in different newspapers of the same cardiac arrest victim were searched for any additional information, and only the best report was included. Those due to obvious possible non-cardiac causes such as trauma were excluded. Data related to Utstein variables were extracted from these reports. Data of OHCA subjects were selected for analysis. Results: 1779 reports reviewed and 1703 selected after excluding 76. Of these, 279 reports did not specify whether it was an In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (IHCA)or OHCA. Of the remaining 1424 reports,377 reports were IHCA, and 1047 were OHCA. 1047 OHCA cases selected for analysis. The study noted male preponderance and a median age of 51--60 years. OHCA commonly occurred in residential locations, followed by public buildings, other places and street/highways. Prior risk factors, heart disease, symptoms were reported in some reports. Of 15 subjects who received CPR, 11 were reported to have survived. Though demographic data is reported in the majority, there is poor reporting of clinical and resuscitation details. Limitations:The study may not reflect the total number of OHCA reported as accessing the information from newspapers in different languages from different States was a limiting factor. Conclusions: The study gives a glimpse of OHCA in India and emphasizes the need for elaborate reporting of data on cardiac arrest. The crucial role of media is recognized.