Factors associated with symptoms of prolonged grief among bereaved family members of persons who died from sudden cardiac arrest
Authors: Carlsson N , Arestedt K , Alvariza A , Axelsson L , Bremer A 
Published: July 2021

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: Public Institution(s). Main funding source(s): Linnaeus University, Sweden

Background

High incidence and mortality make cardiac arrest one of the leading causes of death in western countries. Death from sudden cardiac arrest implies a stressful and challenging situation for bereaved family members with increased risk for prolonged grief disorder. This serious disorder needs to be identified and treated.

Purpose

To explore factors associated with symptoms of prolonged grief among bereaved family members of persons who died from sudden cardiac arrest.

Methods

This cross-sectional observational study was based on a questionnaire to bereaved family members six month after the death. Background questions about the family member and the loss, the Prolonged Grief disorder instrument (PG-13) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were included and analyzed using univariate and multiple linear regression.

Results

This study included 108 family members who were adult children (n = 55, 51%), spouse (n = 36, 33%), or significant others (n = 17, 16%) to a person that died of sudden cardiac arrest. The mean age of the family members was 61 years (range 25-87), most were women (n = 74, 69%), and did not have a university degree (n = 74, 69%). A majority of the cardiac arrests took place out of hospital (n = 59, 81%). One third of the family members were present during the resuscitation (n = 35, 32%). A minority was offered professional support from the healthcare service (n = 93, 86%) and few sought healthcare for problems in relation to the loss (n = 19, 18%) and/or received professional support from a psychologist or equivalent (n = 16, 15%).

In total, 18% (n = 19) reported symptoms of prolonged grief and the prevalence was even higher among spouses (n = 10, 29%). In the univariate regression models, being a spouse of the deceased (B = 6.34, p = 0.004, R2 = 0.08), sought healthcare related to the loss (B = 10.51, p &lt; 0.001, R2 = 0.15), offered support from the healthcare related to the loss (B = 6.28, p = 0.030, R2 = 0.05), received professional support for the loss (B = 7.30, p = 0.011, R2 = 0.06), and lower levels of perceived social support (B=-0.28, p &lt; 0.001, R2 = 0.16) were significantly associated with higher levels of symptoms of prolonged grief. All these variables, except offered support from the healthcare, were still significant in the multiple regression model and explained 35% of the total variance in PG-13 (F(4, 96)=12.96, p &lt; 0.001). Age, sex, education, and presence during resuscitation were not significantly associated with symptoms of prolonged grief in any of the regression models.

Conclusion

Prolonged grief is a significant problem in bereaved family members of persons who died from sudden cardiac arrest, particularly in spouses, those in need of professional support from the healthcare, and those with low social support. Bereavement support should be offered to reduce the risk to developing prolonged grief after unsuccessful resuscitation and sudden death from cardiac arrest.