Evaluation of knowledge and skills of MBBS interns in basic life support/advanced cardiovascular life support and their ability to retain

Abstract

Objectives: Cardiac arrest is a substantial public health problem. The American Heart Association recommends that those whose daily work requires knowledge and skills in advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) should not only be trained in ACLS but also be given a refresher course at least every 2 years. We conducted a study to find out how much knowledge and skill was improved in the participants following the workshop and also how much of it they retain after 6 months. Materials and Methods: The study, a prospective repeated measures quasi-experimental design, was done to test the knowledge and skill about basic life support (BLS) and ACLS among MBBS Interns at the entry to internship before training, posttraining and 6 months after training. This was done using a structured questionnaire containing 25 knowledge and practice questions and a checklist containing 15 points was used to assess the skills was also assessed using the Laerdal CPRQ Manikin with skill guide using parameters compression score, ventilation score, and compression fraction. Results: Knowledge mean total score for pretest, immediate posttest, and 6 months posttest was 10.9, 23.54, and 15.77, respectively, and skill mean score for pretest, immediate posttest, and 6 months posttest was 3.55, 12.99, and 9.06, respectively. Knowledge and skill assessed for immediate posttest was significantly higher than the pretest score. Six months posttest total score was significantly higher than the pretest total score but was significantly lower than posttest score in regard to both knowledge and skills. Conclusion: We found that there is gross lack of knowledge and skills among interns, which needs to be looked at with proper BLS and ACLS training and periodic reinforcement of the same with trainings as there is a significant decrease in both knowledge and skills at 6 months. The skill guide can be considered for skill assessment.