• K Kragholm, M Skovmoeller, A L Christensen, K Fonager, H-H Tilsted, H Kirkegaard, I DE Haas, and B S Rasmussen.
• Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark. kdks@rn.dk
• Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2013 Aug 1; 57 (7): 936-43.

BackgroundTherapeutic hypothermia for comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has improved survival and neurologic outcome. This study focused on return to work 1 year after therapeutic hypothermia.MethodsFrom June 2004 to June 2009, patients between 18 and 65 years of age with OHCA, who were treated with hypothermia from two regions, representing one third of the national population, were identified from the Danish National Patient Registry, and from hospital and ambulance records. The patients' employment status was obtained from the Danish Ministry of Employment.ResultsOne hundred thirty-three comatose patients after OHCA treated with hypothermia were identified. One hundred and four (78%) patients were employed, or able to work, at the time of cardiac arrest. This particular group of patients showed significant lower in-hospital mortality compared to the group of patients who were not able to work before cardiac arrest; 13% vs. 48%, respectively (P < 0.001). The workable group had a lower Charlson comorbidity score (P = 0.004), a higher incidence of witnessed cardiac arrest (P = 0.004) and a higher incidence of shockable heart rhythm (P < 0.001). Eighty-seven patients (84%), who were able to work prior to cardiac arrest, survived, and 55 (65%) of these patients were employed or able to work at 1 year follow-up.ConclusionThe majority of patients employed, or able to work prior to OHCA, had returned to work at one year follow-up. Predictors of return to work in comatose patients treated with hypothermia have to be identified in a larger-scale study.© 2013 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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