Resuscitation in the hospital: circadian variation of cardiopulmonary arrest.

Purpose: Over 25 reports have found outpatient frequency of sudden cardiac death peaks between 6 am and noon; few studies, with inconsistent results, have examined circadian variation of death in hospitalized patients. This study assesses circadian variation in cardiopulmonary arrest of in-hospital patients across patient, hospital, and event variables and its effect on survival to discharge.

Methods: A retrospective, single institution registry included all admissions to the Medical Center of Central Georgia in which resuscitation was attempted between January 1987 and December 2000. The registry included 4692 admissions; only the first attempt was reported. Analyses of 1-, 2-, 4-, and 8-hour intervals were performed; 1- and 4-hour intervals are presented.

Results: Significant circadian variation was found at 1 hour (P=.01), but not at 4-hour intervals. Significant circadian variation was found for initial rhythms that were perfusing (P=.03) and asystole (P=.01). A significantly higher percentage of unwitnessed events were found as asystole during the overnight hours (P=.002). Using simple logistic regression, time in 4-hour intervals and rhythm were each significantly related to patient survival until hospital discharge (P=.003 and P <.0001). In multivariate analysis, only rhythm remained significant.

Conclusions: Circadian variation of cardiopulmonary arrest in this hospital has several temporal versions and is related to survival. Late night variation in witnessed events and rhythm suggests a delay between onset of clinical death and discovery, which contributes to poorer outcomes.