Quality of chest compressions during continuous CPR; comparison between chest compression-only CPR and conventional CPR.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to compare the time-dependent deterioration of chest compressions between chest compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and conventional CPR.

METHODS

This study involved 106 and 107 participants randomly assigned to chest compression-only CPR training and conventional CPR training, respectively. Immediately after training, participants were asked to perform CPR for 2 min and the quality of their CPR skills were evaluated. The number of chest compressions in total and those with appropriate depth were counted every 20-s CPR period from the start of CPR. The primary outcome was the CPR quality index calculated as the proportion of chest compressions with appropriate depth among total chest compressions.

RESULTS

The total number of chest compressions remained stable over time both in the chest compression-only and the conventional CPR groups. The CPR quality index, however, decreased from 86.6+/-25.0 to 58.2+/-36.9 in the chest compression-only CPR group from 0-20 s through 61-80 s. The reduction was greater than in the conventional CPR group (85.9+/-25.5 to 74.3+/-34.0). The difference in the CPR quality index reached statistical significance (p=0.003) at 61-80 s period.

CONCLUSIONS

Chest compressions with appropriate depth decreased more rapidly during chest compression-only CPR than conventional CPR. We recommend that CPR providers change their roles every 1 min to maintain the quality of chest compressions during chest compression-only CPR. (UMIN-CTR C0000000321).