April 20, 2026Open Access

Incidence of Sudden Cardiac Death in the European Union

Q: What does this research mean for the field?

Combining data from four large population-based registries provides a comprehensive estimate of the incidence of sudden cardiac death and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the European Union. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.SYNTHESIS. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

Key Result

Four large population-based registries were combined to estimate the incidence of sudden cardiac death and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the European Union.

Key Points

This study aims to determine the incidence of sudden cardiac death (SCD) and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in the European Union.
Examined 4 large European population-based prospective registries with >2 million inhabitants
Collected data on EMS-attended OHCA and SCD from January 2012 to December 2017
Analyzed statistical incidence rates of SCD and OHCA by age and sex demographics.
Average annual incidence of SCD ranged from 36.8 to 39.7 per 100,000
Estimated 249,538 SCD cases per year in the European Union (95% CI: 155,377-343,719)
Average annual incidence of OHCA ranged from 47.8 to 57.9 per 100,000, leading to an estimated 343,496 OHCA cases per year (95% CI: 216,472-464,922).

Structured PICO

Population

Population in the European Union (data from 4 large, population-based registries)

Outcome

Incidence of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) and Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA)hard clinical

This study provides population-based estimates for the incidence of sudden cardiac death and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest across the European Union.

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although sudden cardiac death (SCD) is recognized as a high-priority public health topic, reliable estimates of the incidence of SCD or, more broadly, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), in the population are scarce, especially in the European Union. OBJECTIVES: The study objective was to determine the incidence of SCD and OHCA in the European Union. METHODS: The study examined 4 large (ie, >2 million inhabitants) European population-based prospective registries collecting emergency medical services (EMS)-attended (ie, with attempted resuscitation) OHCA and SCD (OHCA without obvious extracardiac causes) for >5 consecutive years from January 2012 to December 2017 in the Paris region (France), the North Holland region (the Netherlands), the Stockholm region (Sweden), and in all of Denmark. RESULTS: The average annual incidence of SCD in the 4 registries ranged from 36.8 per 100,000 (95% CI: 23.5-50.1 per 100,000) to 39.7 per 100,000 (95% CI: 32.6-46.8 per 100,000). When extrapolating to each European country and accounting for age and sex, this yields to 249,538 SCD cases per year (95% CI: 155,377-343,719 SCD cases per year). The average annual incidence of OHCA in the 4 registries ranged from 47.8 per 100,000 (95% CI: 21.2-74.4 per 100,000) to 57.9 per 100,000 (95% CI: 19.6-96.3 per 100,000), corresponding to 343,496 OHCA cases per year (95% CI: 216,472-464,922 OHCA cases per year) in the European Union. Incidence rates of SCD and OHCA increased with age and were systematically higher in men compared with women. CONCLUSIONS: By combining data from 4 large, population-based registries with at least 5 years of data collection, this study provided an estimate of the incidence of SCD and OHCA in the European Union.