Evaluation of the thoracic compression technique using APPs. Do they help or hinder cardiopulmonary resuscitation?

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by lay people when guided by a mobile phone application with real-time feedback, with the comparison of three different mobile phone applications (APPs).

DESIGN

A cross-sectional quasi-experimental study was carried out.

PARTICIPANTS

A sample of 113 nursing students participated in the study.

INTERVENTIONS

Three hands-only CPR tests with continuous compressions were performed: (i)without external help; (ii)with the mobile phone turned off; and (iii)guided by APP. Three different APPs were randomly assigned (Pocket CPR®, CPR Pro®> and Massage cardiaque et DSA®). The mannequin Laerdal Resusci Anne QCPR (Stavanger, Norway) 2.0.0.14 software was used.

VARIABLES OF PRIMARY INTEREST

APPs used. Demographic variables characterizing the study sample.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

mean depth, mean rate, percentage of correct hand positioning, percentage of compressions with correct re-expansion, percentage of compressions with correct depth, percentage of compressions at the correct rate, and overall quality of CPR.

RESULTS

Overall CPR quality was 33.3% ± 32.7 using Pocket CPR, 10.9% ± 22.72% using CPR Pro and 7.8% ± 9.2 using Massage cardiaque et DSA. None of the APPs produced a statistically significant improvement. The percentage of time that the resuscitator managed to maintain a correct compression rate improved when using all three APPs.

CONCLUSIONS

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation guided by phone APPs did not improve the overall quality of compressions during resuscitation, though it improved the percentage of compressions performed at the correct rate.