SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH IN THE METROPOLITAN REGION OF CAPITAL BRAZILIAN, FROM 2013 TO 2022 – EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROFILE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS

Objective: To describe the epidemiological profile of Sudden Cardiac Death in the metropolitan region of the Brazilian capital. Design and method: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional observational study with the cases of Sudden Cardiac Death identified, according to the criteria of the World Health Organization, among people over 18 years of age and occurring between January 2019 and December 2022. Variables used: age, place of occurrence and domicile, sex, and factors associated with risk and morbidities. The data were collected directly from the Death Verification Service (SVO) records of Goiânia and analyzed for distribution (Kolmogorov-Smirnov), applying chi-square and t-student tests. All tests were used with a significance level of 5% and a 95% confidence interval. Results: A total of 2,852 cases of sudden deaths were recorded in the period from 2013 to 2022, among those over 18 years of age, with 1920 (67.3%) considered as SCD. The incidence of SCD, confirmed by necropsy, was 303, which represented 15.8% of the total deaths recorded as SCD throughout the period. The average age was 59.4 (±13.7) years, similar between genders. Men had a higher incidence of SCD (70.0%) and the age group from 18 to 35 years (4.0%) had the lowest accumulated incidence rate and from 35 to 60 years (49.5%) had the highest incidence. The highest frequency of deaths was at home (50.5%), followed by other health establishments, other than hospitals (17.5%); the highest proportion domiciled in capital (57.4%), and the place with the highest proportion of occurrence (61.7%). The main risk factors and morbidities associated with deaths were hypertension 45.9% (n=139), diabetes 14.9% (n=45), hypertension/diabetes association 10.2% (n=31), smoking 43.2% (n= 131), alcoholism 41.9% (n=127)) and alcoholism/smoking association 27.0% (n=82). Conclusions: The proportion of sudden deaths considered to be related to cardiac conditions was more than half of the cases identified; almost all of those who underwent necropsy were confirmed as MSC. The incidence rate of SCD, confirmed by necropsy, was 15.8%, and the main associated risk factors were alcoholism and smoking, the most associated morbidities were arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus.