The primary independent variable was patient race. Patient factors collected other than race included demographics (age and sex), initial cardiac rhythm, and comorbidities or medical conditions present prior to cardiac arrest (congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, or diabetes mellitus; renal, hepatic, or respiratory insufficiency; baseline evidence of motor, cognitive, or functional deficits [central nervous system depression]; acute stroke; pneumonia; hypotension; sepsis; major trauma; and requirement for hemodialysis).
Hospital factors collected included the hospital’s geographic region, licensed bed volume (<250, 250–499, ≥500 inpatient beds), and academic training program status (no training program, residency program only, residency and fellowship programs). Hospital process variables included the use of a hospitalwide cardiopulmonary arrest alert, use of an organized hospital code team, defibrillation time, time of cardiac arrest (work hours: 8am to 5 pm ; after hours: 5 pm to 8 am or weekend), and cardiac arrest location (not monitored, telemetry, or intensive care unit [ICU]). Time to defibrillation was evaluated as both a continuous and categorical variable (delayed, >2 minutes vs not delayed, ≤2 minutes) based on current guidelines.10 (link),11 (link)
Hospital factors collected included the hospital’s geographic region, licensed bed volume (<250, 250–499, ≥500 inpatient beds), and academic training program status (no training program, residency program only, residency and fellowship programs). Hospital process variables included the use of a hospitalwide cardiopulmonary arrest alert, use of an organized hospital code team, defibrillation time, time of cardiac arrest (work hours: 8
