Psychosocial and survivorship care needs following young out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest: a rapid scoping review

Abstract Importance : Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) are significant public health issues globally. SCA incidence is highest among older adults, however occurrence among young individuals (<50 years) carries a disproportionate impact due to premature mortality, family burden, and economic impact. SCA occurring in a young person is more likely to be caused by inherited cardiovascular conditions, resulting in additional familial implications and profound psychosocial impacts. ‘Survivorship care’ refers to long-term, holistic care supporting a patient’s wellbeing, integrating cognitive, psychological, social and functional aspects of long-term recovery. Although survivorship care following SCA has been increasingly prioritized, the psychosocial care needs specific to young SCA/SCD populations have not been collectively reviewed to date. Objectives : We performed a rapid scoping review to synthesize evidence on survivorship care needs following young (<50 years) SCA and identify gaps to inform future intervention development. Evidence review : MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo and CINAHL were searched on 1 July 2025 and the search re-run on 12 July 2026 for peer-reviewed primary articles published since 2015. Eligible studies were those which reported care needs, or the psychosocial, cognitive, functional, informational, or survivorship-related outcomes. These were used to infer care needs among young SCA survivors, co-survivors, and SCD bereaved family members. Findings : Twenty studies met our inclusion criteria. Findings were related to both adult and pediatric survivors as well as bereaved family members; none of the included studies focused exclusively on co-survivors. Adult survivors commonly experience anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress symptoms, cognitive impairment, impacted sense of self, and challenges returning to work, pointing to support needs in these areas. Pediatric survivors have persistent neurocognitive and adaptive functioning challenges, return to school difficulties and other ongoing support needs. Bereaved family members report psychological distress, prolonged grief, and unmet needs for counselling, peer support, timely information, and coordinated follow-up care. Conclusions and relevance : Young SCA/SCD may represent a distinct survivorship context characterized by life stage, family disruption, potential genetic risk, and different recovery trajectories. Our findings suggest a need for targeted research into survivorship care pathways that integrate psychosocial care into the young SCA/SCD context.