Comparison of Skills and Knowledge after Basic Life Support Training over a 6 Month Interval on Preclinical Medical Students

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The following study was performed to compare basic life support (BLS) skills and knowledge over a 6 months interval in preclinical medical students. METHODS: Upon initial instruction, 112 first-year medical students at a teaching hospital were given instructions in BLS, their knowledge performance was evaluated by written test and skills test via checklist designed by instructors and PC SkillReporting System(R) (Laerdal, Norway). Their performance was re-evaluated 6 months after initial BLS training in an identical fashion. Evaluation was performed on 103 out of 112 students who had taken initial BLS training. RESULTS: The results of written test showed that the students evaluated right after taking initial BLS training have better knowledge of BLS compared to students evaluated 6 months after taking initial BLS training (p<0.001). Results of skills test evaluated by checklist showed decrease in adequate performance of students evaluated 6 months after BLS education in 12 out of 18 items compared to students who have just received initial BLS training. The decreases were statistically significant in 6 items. Total scores after 6months were also lower compared with initial scores (p<.0.001). The results of the skills test using PC Skill Reporting System(R) demonstrated that the percentage of adequate ventilation volume, compression rate, hands-off time, and hand position were each 18.4%, 46.6%, 47.6%, 84.2% initially and 5.8%, 32.0%, 32.0%, 76.1% at 6 months after initial training. Students performed significantly worse 6 months post training in 4 out of 7 items (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Knowledge and skills of preclinical medical students decreased significantly after a 6 month period compared to knowledge and skills after initial training. Therefore, retraining of BLS is required within 6 months, but more study is required to determine appropriate intervals and methods of retraining.