SynthesisBMJ open2021
Effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions on the secondary consequences of surviving a cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- European Resuscitation Council and European Society of Intensive Care Medicine guidelines 2025: post-resuscitation care.Intensive care medicine · 2025Guideline
- Part 4: Systems of Care: 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care.Circulation · 2025Guideline
- Psychological and cognitive support after cardiac arrest: a systematic review.Resuscitation plus · 2026Review
- Singapore Post-cardiac Arrest Care Guidelines 2026.Singapore medical journal · 2026Review
- Article
- Recovery Phase in the Chain of Survival in Cardiac Arrest Patients: Scoping Review.The Malaysian journal of medical sciences : MJMS · 2026Review
- Long-Term Outcomes After Cardiac Arrest: Protocol for the Extended Follow-Up Sub-Study of the STEPCARE Trial.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2025Article
- Current Perspectives on Rehabilitation Following Return of Spontaneous Circulation After Sudden Cardiac Arrest: A Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Posttraumatic growth in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors: prevalence and associated factors.Resuscitation plus · 2025Article
- V-CARE (Virtual Care After REsuscitation): Protocol for a Randomized Feasibility Study of a Virtual Psychoeducational Intervention After Cardiac Arrest-A STEPCARE Sub-Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Psychological and behavioral dimensions in cardiac arrest survivors and their families: A state-of-the-art review.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025Review
- Prospective evaluation of the relationship between cognition and recovery outcomes after cardiac arrest.Resuscitation · 2024Article
- A multidisciplinary guideline-based approach to improving the sudden cardiac arrest care pathway: The Copenhagen framework.Resuscitation plus · 2024Article
- Article
- Review
- Review
- The aftermath of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest for young exercisers - a qualitative study in Norway.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Psychological Distress After Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Its Impact on Recovery.Current cardiology reports · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimThe aim of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions on the secondary physical, neurological and psychological consequences of cardiac arrest (CA) for adult survivors.
methodsA literature search of electronic databases (MEDLINE, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Excerpta Medica database, Psychological Information Database, Web of Science and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled trials) was conducted for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies up to 18 April 2021. The primary outcome was health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and main secondary outcome was neurological function with additional secondary outcomes being survival, rehospitalisation, safety (serious and non-serious adverse events), psychological well-being, fatigue, exercise capacity and physical capacity. Two authors independently screened studies for eligibility, extracted data and assessed risk of bias.
resultsThree RCTs and 11 observational studies were included (total 721 participants). Study duration ranged from 8 weeks to 2 years. Pooled data from two RCTs showed low-quality evidence for no effect on physical HRQoL (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.19, (95% CI: -0.09 to 0.47)) and no effect on mental HRQoL (SMD 0.27 (95% CI: -0.01 to 0.55)).Regarding secondary outcomes, very low-quality evidence was found for improvement in neurological function associated with inpatient rehabilitation for CA survivors with acquired brain injury (SMD 0.71, (95% CI: 0.45 to 0.96)) from five observational studies. Two small observational studies found exercise-based rehabilitation interventions to be safe for CA survivors, reporting no serious or non-serious events.
conclusionsGiven the overall low quality of evidence, this review cannot determine the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions for CA survivors on HRQoL, neurological function or other included outcomes, and recommend further high-quality studies be conducted. In the interim, existing clinical guidelines on rehabilitation provision after CA should be followed to meet the high burden of secondary consequences suffered by CA survivors. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018110129.
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