Sociodemographic Factors and the Risk of Paediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Abstract
Paediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (POHCA) is associated with poor survival and severe neurological sequelae. This thesis aims to explore the relationship between sociodemographic factors and POHCA. The findings from our systematic review indicate that there are racial disparities in POHCA risk and in the provision of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation. There was little evidence of sociodemographic disparities in bystander defibrillation, survival and neurological outcome, particularly across adjusted analyses. The findings from our case-control study in Ontario, Canada, indicate that children living in marginalized areas have an elevated risk of experiencing POHCA. We also found that children living in northern urban or southern rural areas had a higher risk of POHCA, relative to children living in southern urban areas. In contrast, child immigrants and maternal immigrants had a lower risk of POHCA, relative to the general population. These findings highlight the importance of prioritizing at-risk communities in POHCA prevention and intervention efforts.