Abstract 356: Skill Retention in Medical Students Trained in Cardiac Arrest Care

Background: Morbidity and mortality reduction in cardiac arrest depends upon early and effective care. Basic life support (BLS) measures encompass a series of procedures to be started outside the hospital usually by trained lay people. Therefore, it is key that lay caregivers retain knowledge and skills late after instruction. However, studies demonstrate loss of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills as early as 30 days after training, pending mostly on the caregiver professional background. In this study, we evaluated medical students’ retention skills at 6 months. Methods: Prospective case-control observational study. Medical students underwent a 40-hour BLS training program. CPR skills were evaluated immediately and 6 months after the course based on individual scores before and after training as well as on categorical stratification as excellent, good or poor. Data were compared using F-test, paired t-test and chi-square for categorical variables. A 95% confidence interval was used with a level of significance of 0.05. Results: Fifty first-year medical students (54% female) aged between 18 and 24 years were enrolled in the BLS training program. Total number of CPR steps accurately performed decreased after 6 months of training (10.8 vs . 12.5; p<0.001). Sex and age were not associated with performance. Categorical evaluation was considered excellent in 78% of the students immediately after training but decreased to 40% in 6 months (p<0.01). Hands-on basic skills were mostly lost within the period. Conclusion: First-year medical students lost hands-on skills after 6 months of training decreasing the efficacy of CPR measures which might affect outcomes of patients in cardiac arrest.