Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
A cardiac arrest is a serious medical condition in which the heart suddenly stops beating and is a major cause of death in people across all age groups. An out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is where this happens when a person is not in hospital, and is the most common type of cardiac arrest. Sufferers usually require rapid resuscitation in order to restart their heart and improve chances of survival. Despite best efforts, survival rates are low. In many cases, time from spotting that a person is having a cardiac arrest to the arrival of emergency medical services (EMS) is long, leaving bystanders in a critical position to potentially save a person’s life by starting resuscitation themselves. However, only a minority of cardiac arrests receive this. The Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry is a nationwide initiative to monitor and examine trends in survival and treatment of cardiac arrest in Denmark in order to improve overall prognosis and outcome in cardiac arrest victims. The aim of this study is to examine survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Denmark on a nationwide scale.
Who can participate?
All persons in Denmark suffering from an OHCA where a bystander or EMS tries to resuscitate them.
What does the study involve?
Data on all out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are collected by using pre-specified form filled out by ambulance personnel and paramedics arriving at the scene of cardiac arrest and initiating resuscitation attempts. Data are entered in electronic database and linked to the Danish Death Registry so that patient survival at 30 days can be recorded.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no benefits or risks to participants
Where is the study run from?
1. Copenhagen University Hospital Herlev and Gentofte (Denmark)
2. Five Prehospital Emergency Medical Services (Denmark)
3. The Institute of Health, Science and Technology, Aalborg University (Denmark)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 2001 to December 2035
Who is funding the study?
The Tryg Foundation (Denmark)
Who is the main contact?
Professor Christian Torp-Pedersen
Trial website
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
N/A
Study information
Scientific title
The Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry
Acronym
Study hypothesis
The aim of this study is to examine survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Denmark on a nationwide scale.
Ethics approval
Ethics approval is not required for retrospective registry studies in Denmark.
Study design
Retrospective epidemiological registry study
Primary study design
Observational
Secondary study design
Epidemiological study
Trial setting
Other
Trial type
Treatment
Patient information sheet
No participant information sheet available
Condition
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests
Intervention
The Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry is a collaboration between the five regional Prehospital Emergency Medical Services in Denmark. Data is collected prospectively by paramedics and ambulance personnel as part of the emergency medical services documentation of effort to improve the quality of cardiac arrest treatment in Denmark.
Data on all out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are collected by using pre-specified form filled out by ambulance personnel and paramedics arriving at the scene of cardiac arrest and initiating resuscitation attempts. Data are entered in electronic database and linked to the Danish Death Registry to monitor 30-day survival.
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
30-day survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is measured by linking data to the Danish National Death Registry, where all deaths are registered within 14 days of occurrence.
Secondary outcome measures
1. Initiation of CPR by laypersons, defibrillation by AED’s is measured using a pre-specified form filled out by ambulance personnel and paramedics
2. Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) on arrival at hospital is measured using a pre-specified form filled out by ambulance personnel and paramedics
Overall trial start date
01/01/2001
Overall trial end date
31/12/2035
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
All persons in Denmark suffering from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest where resuscitation efforts are initiated either by bystanders (with activation of the EMS system) or by EMS personnel.
Participant type
All
Age group
All
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
Currently there are approximately 50 thousand individuals in the registry and there are approximately additionally 3.600 new individuals registered each year. There is no upper limit of participants as registration is continuous.
Participant exclusion criteria
Cases with obvious late signs of death (e.g. rigor mortis) for which resuscitative efforts are not initiated
Recruitment start date
01/01/2001
Recruitment end date
31/12/2035
Locations
Countries of recruitment
Denmark
Trial participating centre
Copenhagen University Hospital Herlev and Gentofte
Department of Cardiology
Kildegaardsvej 28
Hellerup
2900
Denmark
Trial participating centre
The Prehospital Emergency Medical Services, The Capital Region of Denmark
Telegrafvej 5
Ballerup
2750
Denmark
Trial participating centre
The Institute of Health, Science and Technology, Aalborg University
Søndre Skovvej 15
Aalborg
9000
Denmark
Sponsor information
Organisation
The Tryg Foundation
Sponsor details
Hummeltoftevej 49
Virum
2830
Denmark
Sponsor type
Charity
Website
Funders
Funder type
Charity
Funder name
The Tryg Foundation
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
There are already numerous publications and the registry is a continuous source of data for new studies. There are publications in JAMA, Circulation, Resuscitation, European Heart Journal based on data from the registry. An overall report of the registry is published each year (in Danish) by the Danish Resuscitation Council and can be downloaded at http://genoplivning.dk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Rapport-fra-Dansk-Hjertestopregister-2001-2014.pdf.
IPD Sharing plan:
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are/will be available upon request from Professor Christian Torp-Pedersen at Aalborg University, Faculty of Health, Science and Technology, Søndre Skovvej 15, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark. His e-mail is ctp@heart.dk and telephone +45 99403802
Intention to publish date
31/12/2035
Participant level data
Available on request
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list
2015 results in https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25747933 (added 14/08/2019)