Aim Our aim was to study the outcome and the predictors of in‐hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among elderly patients admitted to Ain Shams University Hospitals, Egypt. Methods We carried out a cross‐sectional study for all elderly patients (age ≥60 years) who underwent CPR after cardiac arrest at Ain Shams University Hospitals, Egypt, during a 1.5‐year study period. We excluded patients who were declared dead on arrival. Results We found 380 cases of elderly in‐hospital cardiac arrest that underwent CPR. Asystole was the most common arrhythmia detected at the time of arrest (85.1%), followed by ventricular tachycardia (8.7%) and ventricular fibrillation (6.2%). Return of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 32.6% of patients and 8.4% survived to discharge from hospital. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified three independent predictors of better outcome (survival >24 h): response time ≤5 min (OR 5.1, 95% CI 1.9–13.4), location of CPR in emergency department (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.6–6.4) and pre‐arrest morbidity (PAM) score ≤7 (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.6–6.1). Conclusion Outcome of CPR after in‐hospital cardiac arrest in our setting was poor. The response time ≤5 min, CPR in the emergency department and PAM score ≤7 were independent predictors of good outcome. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2014; 14: 309–314.