Effect of Prehospital Epinephrine on Outcomes of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Bayesian Network Approach

Table 1

Patient characteristics of the study population.

Characteristics	SALS applied (N = 2351)	Not applied (N = 1973)
Sex, male (%)	1593 (67.8%)	1197 (60.7%)	<0.001
Age, years, median (IQR)	53.0 (38.0–62.0)	56.0 (41.0–64.0)	<0.001
1^st quartile: <59 years	671 (28.5%)	474 (24.0%)
2^nd quartile: 59–72 years	612 (26.0%)	449 (22.8%)
3^rd quartile: 73–81 years	626 (26.6%)	517 (26.2%)
4^th quartile: >81 years	442 (18.8%)	533 (27.0%)
Presumed etiology, cardiac (%)	404 (17.2%)	67 (3.4%)	<0.001
Public location (%)	354 (15.1%)	296 (15.0%)	0.994
Witnessed cardiac arrest (%)	1131 (48.1%)	900 (45.6%)	0.109
Bystander CPR (%)	1595 (67.8%)	1184 (60.0%)	<0.001
Shockable initial rhythm (%)	464 (19.7%)	273 (13.8%)	<0.001
Response time, minutes, median (IQR)	7 (6–9)	7 (6–10)	0.195
1^st quartile: <7 minutes	868 (36.9%)	762 (38.6%)
2^nd quartile: 7 minutes	399 (17.0%)	243 (12.3%)
3^rd quartile: 8–10 minutes	681 (29.0%)	544 (27.6%)
4^th quartile: >10 minutes	403 (17.1%)	424 (21.5%)
Epinephrine (%)	1644 (69.9%)	0 (0.0%)	<0.001
Advanced airway (%)	2254 (95.9%)	1060 (53.7%)	<0.001
EMS time, minutes, median (IQR)	28 (22–35)	14 (10–20)	<0.001
1^st quartile: <19 minutes	143 (6.1%)	988 (50.1%)
2^nd quartile: 19–26 minutes	498 (21.2%)	641 (32.5%)
3^rd quartile: 27–35 minutes	834 (35.5%)	237 (12.0%)
4^th quartile: >35 minutes	876 (37.3%)	107 (5.4%)
Prehospital ROSC (%)	324 (13.8%)	83 (4.2%)	<0.001
Early ROSC (≤8 minutes)	97 (4.1%)	116 (5.9%)	0.010
Neurologic recovery (6-month CPC score 1 or 2)	148 (6.3%)	52 (2.6%)	<0.001

SALS, smart ALS (protocol); IQR, interquartile range; CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation; EMS, emergency medical service; ROSC, return of spontaneous circulation; CPC, cerebral performance category.