Early do-not-attempt resuscitation orders and neurological outcomes in older out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patient: A multicenter observational study

Aim: To explore the association between Do-Not-Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) orders issued within 6 h of admission and neurological outcomes in older patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Methods: Patients aged ≥65 years who experienced OHCA between September 2019 and March 2021 enrolled in the multicenter observational study in Japan (SOS-KANTO 2017) were included. Data regarding DNAR decisions were prospectively collected and the time required to obtain DNAR orders. Patients who received DNAR orders within 6 h of admission (DNAR group) were compared with those who did not (non-DNAR group) using propensity score analysis with inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) to adjust for potential confounders.

Results: Of the 9909 registered individuals in the SOS-KANTO 2017 study across 42 facilities, 685 were selected for analysis, with 361 (52.7%) in the DNAR group. Even after adjusting for the confounding factors, the frequency of post-admission therapeutic interventions was lower, and the proportion of patients with favorable neurological outcomes was significantly lower (2.6% vs. 19.3%, p < 0.001) in the DNAR group. Twenty-six (7.3%) patients in the DNAR group survived for 1 month, of whom six (1.7%) had favorable neurological outcomes.

Conclusions: Older patients with OHCA who had early DNAR had significantly fewer therapeutic interventions after admission and had worse neurological outcomes at 30 days than those without a DNAR order, even after adjusting for demographic and prehospital variables.