Psychological wellbeing in survivors of cardiac arrest, and its relationship to neurocognitive function

Resuscitation. 2017 Feb:111:22-25. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2016.11.004. Epub 2016 Nov 24.

Abstract

Objective: To characterise psychological wellbeing in survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), and examine its relationship to cognitive function.

Patients: Forty-one highly functioning cardiac arrest survivors were drawn from the follow-up cohort of a randomised controlled trial of initial airway management in OHCA (ISRCTN:18528625).

Design: Psychological wellbeing was assessed with a self-report questionnaire (the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale; DASS) and cognitive function was examined using the Delayed Matching to Samples (DMS) test from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB).

Results: Mean anxiety levels were significantly higher in this patient group than normative data drawn from the general population (p=0.046). Multiple regression analyses showed that cognitive function, measured by the DMS, did not predict any of the DASS scales.

Conclusions: Anxiety plays an important role in determining perceived QoL in high functioning survivors, but psychological wellbeing is unrelated to cognitive function in this group. To achieve a comprehensive assessment of wellbeing, resuscitation research should consider outcomes beyond neurological function alone.

Keywords: Anxiety; Cardiac; Death; Quality of life; Sudden.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anxiety
  • Child
  • Cognition*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / mortality
  • Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / physiopathology
  • Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / psychology*
  • Quality of Life
  • Surveys and Questionnaires