How Knowledge-only Reinforcement Can Impact Time-related Changes in Basic Life Support (BLS) Skills of Medical Students on Clinical Clerkship

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Some report that basic life support (BLS) skills decay rapidly, mostly by three months after initial training. Retraining at specific intervals or with more effective methods is necessary to delay this decay. This study was undertaken to determine the effects of the time interval from initial training and to evaluate the impacts of a knowledge-only reinforcement on BLS skills in medical students and interns. METHODS: We tested the single-rescuer BLS performance of 92 medical students and interns with Resusci(R) Anne SkillReporter(TM) and BLS performance criteria. All trainees had been instructed by senior residents in 1~24 months before the test and were assigned into four groups by interval from initial training [group A 1~3 months (n=21), group B 4~7 (n=26), group C 8~15 (n=20), group D 16~24 (n=25)]. Groups C and D had 1-hour knowledge-only lectures. RESULTS: The performance criteria score of group B was lower than that of group A (p=0.005), but that of group C was higher than that of group B (p=0.025). The percent correct of ventilation (PCV) and compression (PCC) decreased surprisingly during the first three months after initial training. There was no difference in the PCC among the four groups. However, the PCV in group C was lower than that in group A (p=0.047). The PCV and the interval from initial training had a negative correlation (R=-0.273, p=0.009). CONCLUSION: Overall BLS performance of medical students and interns on clinical clerkship, without reinforcement, decreases more significantly after three months compared to the first three months from initial training. The accuracy of the skills decreases rapidly from the time of initial training. A knowledge-only reinforcement could temporally improve overall BLS performance. However, the accuracy of the ventilation skill decays regardless of reinforcement.