Standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation versus chest compressions only after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Introduction The 2020 American Heart Association guidelines encourage lay rescuers to provide chest compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation to simplify the process and encourage cardiopulmonary resuscitation initiation. However, recent clinical trials had contradictory results about chest compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This study will aim to compare standard and chest compressions-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.Methods and analysis This study will retrieve only randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials from the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases. Data on study design, participant characteristics, intervention details and outcomes will be extracted by a unified standard form. Primary outcomes to be assessed are hospital admission, discharge, and 30-day survival, and return of spontaneous circulation. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework will evaluate the quality of evidence. Cochrane’s tool for assessing the risk of bias will evaluate risk deviation. If the I2 statistic is lower than 40%, the fixed-effects model will be used for meta-analysis. Otherwise, the random-effects model will be used. The search will be performed following the publication of this protocol (estimated to occur on 30 December 2024).Discussion This study will evaluate the effect of chest compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and provide evidence for cardiopulmonary resuscitation guidelines.Ethics and dissemination No patient or public entity will be involved in this study. Therefore, the study does not need to be ethically reviewed. The results of the study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal publications and committee conferences.PROSPERO registration number CRD42021295507.