National Funding for Cardiac Arrest Research in Australia: An Analysis of Competitive Grant Schemes.

[BACKGROUND] Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) affects 26,000 Australians each year, with an approximately 90% fatality rate.

[METHOD] Data from 2013 to 2023, inclusive for National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and 2020-2024 for National Heart Foundation (NHF) grant outcomes were obtained. Major causes of death were obtained from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

[RESULTS] From the NHMRC, 10,474 projects were assessed. Annual investment in research per death was low for SCA at AUD$887 compared to conditions such as breast cancer (AUD$4,673 per death) and renal failure (AUD$5,957 per death). From the NHF, 341 relevant funded projects were identified across 14 broad themes. Overall, 15 applications (4.4%) related to SCA, with AUD$3,302,498.00 (4.3% of total funding) awarded. Most NHF SCA funding was allocated to pre-hospital care (AUD$1.42 million, 43% of awarded funding), whereas most NHMRC funding was allocated to prevention (AUD$24.3 million, 60% of awarded funding). Over time, SCA funding increased for both NHMRC and NHF schemes (NHMRC: AUD$2.32 million in 2013/14 vs AUD$11.2 million in 2021/22, NHF: AUD$331,600 in 2019/20 vs AUD$1.2 million in 2023/24).

[CONCLUSIONS] SCA is poorly captured as a leading cause of death in Australia. It is underfunded relative to other leading causes of mortality by up to a factor of 100. Investment in SCA research has increased over the last decade across Australian funding schemes, and this should be encouraged.