Abstract
BACKGROUND: Physicians and patients frequently overestimate likelihood of survival after in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Discussions and decisions around resuscitation after in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest often take place without adequate or accurate information. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of 470 instances of resuscitation after in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest. Individuals were randomly assigned to a derivation cohort and a validation cohort. Logistic Regression and Linear Discriminant Analysis were used to perform multivariate analysis of the data. The resultant best performing rule was converted to a weighted integer tool, and thresholds of survival and nonsurvival were determined with an attempt to optimize sensitivity and specificity for survival. RESULTS: A 10-feature rule, using thresholds for survival and nonsurvival, was created; the sensitivity of the rule on the validation cohort was 42.7% and specificity was 82.4%. In the Dartmouth Score (DS), the features of age (greater than 70 years of age), history of cancer, previous cardiovascular accident, and presence of coma, hypotension, abnormal PaO2, and abnormal bicarbonate were identified as the best predictors of nonsurvival. Angina, dementia, and chronic respiratory insufficiency were selected as protective features. CONCLUSIONS: Utilizing information easily obtainable on admission, our clinical prediction tool, the DS, provides physicians individualized information about their patients' probability of survival after in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest. The DS may become a useful addition to medical expertise and clinical judgment in evaluating and communicating an individual's probability of survival after in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest after it is validated by other cohorts.