COIOS
Healthcare today Item refines preprint

US mortality after CPR for in-hospital cardiac arrest stayed above pre-2020 levels

In 612,930 weighted US hospitalisations with CPR for in-hospital cardiac arrest, risk-adjusted mortality fell to 2019, peaked in 2021 (aOR 1.26 against 2016) and stayed above pre-pandemic levels in 2022, and it was higher for Black, Hispanic and self-pay patients.

This preprint used the National Inpatient Sample to track in-hospital mortality after CPR for in-hospital cardiac arrest in US adults from 2016 to 2022, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic and hospital characteristics. Overall mortality was 67.8%, with adjusted odds lower in 2019 (aOR 0.89) and higher in 2020 (1.18) and 2021 (1.26) than in 2016. Adjusted odds were also higher for Black (1.14), Hispanic (1.20) and self-pay patients (1.62).

Why it is interesting: Adjusted mortality after in-hospital cardiac arrest rose in the pandemic years and had not returned to pre-pandemic levels by 2022, with a gradient by insurance status and ethnicity.

Source
medRxiv, 28 September 2026
DOI
10.64898/2026.09.25.26364059
Type
Preprint
Design
Cross-sectional analysis of 612,930 weighted US National Inpatient Sample hospitalisations with CPR after in-hospital cardiac arrest, 2016-2022
Verdict
Refines prior evidence
Driver
Heart and stroke
Driver
Health funding and inequalities