Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a significant cause of death worldwide; [
[1]
] although past efforts have nearly doubled survival rates, the current average mortality
still remains between 80 and 90% [
[2]
]. Up to 85% of all cardiac arrests occur in homes [
[3]
] which means that, unlike many other critical illnesses, family members, and partners’
or significant others often witness the collapse or have to perform CPR on their friend
or loved one. The traumatic burden associated with such a life altering event can
be significant, resulting in unique psychosocial needs both for survivors and those
who witness or perform CPR. Whilst the survivor may have very little memory of the
cardiac event, the partner or caregiver may struggle to deal with the fear, anxiety
and guilt associated with the arrest, CPR provision, and subsequent care upon discharge
of their loved ones from hospital [
- Hostler D.
- Thomas E.G.
- Emerson S.S.
- Christenson J.
- Stiell I.G.
- Rittenberger J.C.
- et al.
Resuscitation outcomes consortium investigators. Increased survival after EMS witnessed
cardiac arrest. Observations from the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) epistry-cardiac
arrest.
Resuscitation. 2010; 81: 826-830
4
,
5
,
6
,
7
]. This often makes the caregiver a ‘forgotten patient’ [
[8]
]. A growing literature has begun to expose the high levels of stress, anxiety, anger
and confusion experienced by the caregivers of survivors within the first 12-months
post-arrest [
6
,
7
,
9
]. A recent study suggests that significant post-traumatic stress continues in a significant
percentage of caregivers up to 2-years post event [
[10]
]. Although the general quality of life of caregivers at 2-years is similar to that
of the general population, levels of subjective, post-traumatic stress and fatigue
are higher. Not surprisingly, levels of post-traumatic stress are greater for caregivers
who witnessed the cardiac event or performed CPR than for those who did not witness
the event. However, even for this latter group, levels of post-traumatic stress remain
higher than that observed in the general population at 2-years.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 01, 2018
Accepted:
April 26,
2018
Received:
April 24,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
