Skip to main content

Women Less Likely to Get CPR for Cardiac Arrest in Public Place Than Men

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Sept. 21, 2023 -- Women are significantly less likely to receive bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (BCPR) than men when experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in a public location, according to a study presented at the annual European Emergency Medicine Congress, held from Sept. 17 to 20 in Barcelona, Spain.

Sylvie Cossette, Ph.D., from the University of Montreal, and colleagues examined the interaction between age, gender, location, and rates of BCPR in OHCA patients. The analysis included 39,391 adult patients with nontraumatic, bystander-witnessed OHCA.

The researchers found that 54 percent of participants received BCPR, 23 percent of which occurred in public locations; 39 percent had an initial shockable rhythm, and 18 percent survived to discharge. There was a three-way interaction seen between patient gender, OHCA location, and age, which showed that in public locations, women were less likely to receive BCPR than men (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.72; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.64 to 0.81). There was no significant difference between men and women in private locations (aOR, 1.01; 95 percent CI, 0.96 to 1.06; P = 0.67). In public locations, there was no interaction between age and gender for OHCAs, but there was a significant interaction for OHCAs in private locations. Older age was strongly associated with reduced odds of receiving BCPR for men experiencing OHCA in private locations (aOR for a 10-year increase in age, 0.91; 95 percent CI, 0.90 to 0.93; P < 0.001). This association was weaker for women in private (aOR for a 10-year increase in age, 0.97; 95 percent CI, 0.94 to 0.99; P = 0.011).

"We don't know why this is the case," coauthor Alexis Cournoyer, M.D., also from the University of Montreal, said in a statement. "It could be that people are worried about hurting or touching women, or that they think a woman is less likely to be having a cardiac arrest."

Press Release

More Information

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Implantable Continuous Flow Device Feasible for Small Children With Severe Systolic Heart Failure

FRIDAY, May 10, 2024 -- The Jarvik 2015 left ventricular assist device (LVAD) seems promising as an implantable continuous flow device for small children with severe systolic...

Clinical Practice Guideline Developed for Age-Related Hearing Loss

FRIDAY, May 10, 2024 -- In a clinical practice guideline issued by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation and published online April 30 in...

Large Language Models Fall Short in Breast Imaging Classification

FRIDAY, May 10, 2024 -- Large language models (LLMs) appear to fall short in classification of breast imaging, which can have a negative impact on clinical management, according...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.