Sociodemographic factors and the risk of pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Ontario, Canada: a province-wide case-control study

Background — Pediatric out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (POHCA) is associated with significant mortality and poor neurological outcomes. We aimed to describe the association between sociodemographic factors and POHCA risk in Ontario, Canada.

Methods and Results — We conducted a province‐wide case‐control study at ICES, where patient records are linked across administrative databases. The case group included children (1 day to 17 years of age) who experienced an OHCA between 2004 and 2020. Controls were matched up to 1:4 on age, sex, index date, and key comorbidities. We used conditional logistic regression to measure the association between sociodemographic indicators and POHCA risk. The case and control groups included 1,826 and 7,254 children, respectively. Children living in areas with the highest levels of material deprivation (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.35, 95% CI: 1.94, 2.85) and dependency (aOR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.48) had a higher odds of POHCA, relative to children living in regions with the lowest levels of material deprivation and dependency, respectively. Children living in neighborhoods with the lowest levels of ethnic diversity had a higher odds of POHCA (aOR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.30, 2.01), relative to children living in neighborhoods with the highest levels of ethnic diversity. The odds of POHCA were lower in immigrants (aOR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.47, 0.95), relative to the general population. Northern urban residence (aOR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.87) was associated with a higher odds of POHCA, relative to southern urban residence.

Conclusions — Children living in neighborhoods with high levels of marginalization may have an elevated risk of experiencing POHCA. These findings highlight the importance of addressing disparities through targeted prevention and intervention efforts.