A new study identifying 56 non-clinical risk factors associated with sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), spanning lifestyle, physical measures, psychosocial factors, socioeconomic status, and the local environment, offers compelling evidence that improving these unfavorable profiles could prevent up to 63% of SCA cases.
The article, “Modifiable Risk Factors and Attributable Burden of Cardiac Arrest: An Exposome-wide and Mendelian Randomization Analysis” appearing in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, provides new insights into how lifestyle and environmental factors can contribute to SCA prevention.
SCA is a global public health challenge with profound physical and psychosocial consequences for the individuals affected, along with far-reaching impacts on families, friends, and entire communities. Its high fatality rate and unpredictability make it a leading cause of death worldwide.
In Canada, an estimated 60,000 SCAs occur annually. A reliable and practical approach to mitigate the burden of SCA entails investigating the long-term, modifiable risk factors and subsequently formulating preventive measures. However, significant knowledge gaps regarding SCA prevention persist.
Lead investigator and first author of the article, Huihuan Luo, Ph.D., School of Public Health, Key Lab of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education, and NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, explains, “All previous studies investigating the risk factors of SCA were hypothesis-driven and focused on a limited number of candidate exposure factors grounded in prior knowledge or theoretical frameworks.
“We
