Retention of knowledge and skills in pediatric basic life support amongst pediatricians

Cardiac arrest is an uncommon event in children (9 per 100.000 children per year) often with a poor outcome [3]. An overall survival rate of 6% has been found in children with cardiac arrest in out-of-hospital settings [3]. Healthcare professionals who work with children are expected to be competent in pediatric basic life support (PBLS) according to national guidelines, which are usually based on the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) or American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines [2, 16]. In order to acquire and consolidate this competency, pediatricians and pediatric residents follow resuscitation courses, including PBLS [11].

Based on the literature, pediatric professionals are not fully competent in providing PBLS [28]. Although poor acquisition of skills may be the problem, poor retention of skills is probably the main reason underlying this incompetency [13, 14, 19‐21, 26‐28]. Studies have shown that resuscitation skills, when used infrequently, deteriorate within 3 to 6 months after training and that knowledge is retained longer than skills [5, 7, 22, 27]. In addition, (pediatric) residents and junior doctors have reported that they do not feel confident about performing (P)BLS during an actual emergency situation [6, 10, 30]. This lack of confidence could lead to a delay in incipience of resuscitation [6].

One of 8 academic and 5 of 17 general hospitals agreed to participate. Of the general hospitals, three were teaching and two were non-teaching. Further details are not provided to ensure the anonymity of the hospitals and participants. The majority of the hospitals declined participation. The main reasons were, as expected, a lack of time and the idea that our unannounced visit would interfere with their daily activities. Some hospitals indicated that they were already involved in (enough) other studies. Eventually, 58 pediatricians and residents were available for testing. Twenty-one percent passed the practical PBLS exam. The overall mean penalty score on the practical exam was 27.9 (SD 12.9), median 25.0 (IQR 20.0–36.3). Twenty-nine percent of the participants failed only on compressions/ventilations, 31% on other parts of the algorithm, and 19% on both. The mean penalty score for compressions/ventilations, with a maximum of 100 penalty points, was 14.5 (SD 11.1). The mean penalty score for the other parts of the algorithm, with a maximum of 45 penalty points, was 13.4 (SD 6.8). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was not performed according to the correct compression-ventilation ratio of 15:2 by 29% of the participants. Most penalty points were scored for “ratio and sequence,” with a mean of 5.5 (SD 3.2) on a maximum of 10 penalty points. Fewest penalty points were scored for “breaths,” with a mean of 4.0 (SD 4.4) on a maximum of 35 penalty points.

Participants who more recently followed PBLS courses performed significantly better on the MCQ than those who followed their last course > 2 years ago (p = 0.03) (Fig. 1). The association between time since last PBLS course and performance on the practical exam was not statistically significant (p = 0.11) (Fig. 2).

The penalty score on the practical exam was not affected by sex, frequency of PBLS courses, being PBLS instructor, type of hospital, and number of witnessed IHCAs. None of the participants had witnessed an OHCA. Participants who were older, attending, and more experienced in terms of years working in pediatrics had higher penalty scores than their younger colleagues, who had less experience in pediatrics (Figs. 3 and 4, Table 3). There was no significant association between age and time since last PBLS course.

Retention of PBLS skills amongst pediatricians and residents was discouraging, with a pass rate of 21% on the unannounced practical exam. Compressions/ventilations were slightly better performed than other parts of the algorithm. Numerous participants (29%) failed to use the correct compression-ventilation ratio. Most often, the adult ratio of 30:2 was applied. According to the ERC guidelines, lay people, only trained in adult BLS, may use this ratio in the resuscitation of children [8, 16]. However, since asphyxial etiologies of cardiac arrest are more prevalent in children, medical professionals trained in PBLS are expected to resuscitate children with a ratio of 15:2. A few senior pediatricians used a ratio of 5:1, which indicates that they were not aware of guideline updates [1, 2, 16]. Also, participants sometimes seemed to compensate inadequate ventilations, thus delivering ≥ 3 ventilations per cycle.

Theoretical knowledge was retained better than practical skills, which is consistent with existing literature [5, 7, 22, 27]. Pediatricians and residents are perhaps more exposed to theoretical aspects of PBLS through case discussions, observing simulated or real-life resuscitations, and studying CPR textbooks and resuscitation guidelines, than to hands-on practice. The focus of various instructional methods, such as e-learnings, lies on theoretical knowledge. In our experience, simulation training often involves Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) scenarios with a focus on systematic (ABCDE) assessment, medication and equipment, clinical reasoning, and teamwork, instead of PBLS with pure emphasis on the quality of compressions and ventilations. Refresher courses/booster training sessions with sufficient hands-on practice to rehearse compressions and (mouth-to-mouth) ventilations should therefore be encouraged.

Our findings are in agreement with previous studies that documented poor retention of skills amongst healthcare professionals [9, 13, 17, 18, 23, 25]. We found a less clear-cut association between last PBLS course and practical skills, though. This might be due to our limited number of participants. Previous studies on retention of resuscitation skills, that used scheduled testing, included 19–224 (mean 84) participants [5, 7, 13, 20, 22, 26‐28]. One of the scarce studies that used unannounced testing of resuscitation skills included 49 participants [29]. Information on the exact time of last PBLS course was obtained by participant self-reporting, possibly introducing recall bias. Furthermore, several pediatricians indicated that they also attended adult BLS training. This could have skewed our results in opposite directions. On the one hand, various items in adult BLS correspond with PBLS, so this training can be regarded as a partial refresher for PBLS. Conversely, some fundamental differences exist between adult BLS and PBLS, such as the compression-ventilation ratio and five initial rescue breaths. Participants that recently attended adult BLS training might have erroneously applied the adult ratio, as we discussed previously. We did not inquire after adult BLS training in our questionnaire, but were informed about this by some participants.

Three variables were significantly and inversely related to PBLS skills: age, years of experience in pediatrics, and specialization level. In contrast with previous studies [5, 20, 26], we did not find a direct association between frequency of PBLS courses and retention of skills. Nevertheless, the importance of frequent PBLS training might still indirectly become clear. That is, residents performed better than attendings on the practical exam. An explanation could be that residents follow more frequent PBLS training (in addition to official courses) as part of their medical education than attendings and therefore retain their PBLS skills better. None of the participants had witnessed an OHCA. Only 21% of the participants had witnessed > 10 IHCAs. Evidently, there are limited clinical opportunities for pediatric professionals to consolidate their resuscitation skills. More working years in pediatrics does therefore not automatically lead to more competence in PBLS.

Approximately half of our participants considered themselves proficient in PBLS. This is comparable with previous studies, in which ~ 30–50% of the participants felt sufficiently qualified to conduct (pediatric) life support [6, 10, 30]. Many studies in this respect pertained to medical students or residents, whereas we also included attending physicians. During our unannounced visits, several pediatricians indicated that they were not available for testing. This may have led to the inclusion of pediatricians who felt more equipped to perform PBLS, possibly resulting in a higher level of self-assessed competence. Participants may have also overestimated themselves, because their self-assessed competence did not correlate with their performance on the practical exam. This is an important consideration in light of the finding that people who overestimate themselves are probably less susceptible to corrective feedback [24].

A study design in which participants would be recruited and examined at different time intervals from last certification was considered as an alternative strategy to ours. However, such a design entails a major logistic challenge and does not really allow for unannounced testing. Moreover, time intervals in our study are automatically varied, because participants attended their last PBLS course at different moments in the past. In addition, it would have been informative to compare our (practical) exam results with the scores of the participants on their last PBLS certification. However, the latter scores were confidential, unavailable, and incomparable to ours, for we used a new, validated scoring tool to assess PBLS skills. Although exact pass rates could not be provided, the Dutch Foundation for the Emergency Medical Care of Children affirmed that almost all candidates pass the PBLS exam at the end of the course, which argues against poor acquisition of skills.

Our main strength was the unannounced examination. Truly unannounced testing without any prior notification was ethically and logistically impossible. Most importantly, participants were unable to prepare themselves for the ad hoc exam, thereby creating a situation that closely resembles real-life pediatric resuscitations. By contrast, in many previous studies and conventional PBLS exams, candidates are examined at a predefined moment (after training).

We used a valid and reliable scoring instrument for the practical exam. We meticulously composed a MCQ to assess PBLS knowledge. A validated MCQ was not available in The Netherlands. We considered using a standard theoretical PBLS test from abroad. However, even if a valid and reliable theoretical PBLS test, based on European guidelines, could be found, it would have required a separate study to validate a translated version of this test for the Dutch situation. Our MCQ had content validity, because it was based on the 2015 ERC guidelines [16]. Through critical appraisal by experts, it also gained face validity. The MCQ had good feasibility, for it could be completed in 2–3 min. Most answers to the MCQ questions could not be readily derived from the practical exam.

We used a non-recording manikin, because such lower fidelity manikins are still widely used, both in The Netherlands and abroad (Laerdal Corporation, personal communication), and because our validated scoring instrument was developed for these manikins. The ERC considers the use of lower fidelity manikins appropriate for all levels of training [8]. Moreover, the only skill guide available for the Resusci® Junior Basic until now does not generate quantitative, storable data, and does not provide feedback on all aspects of compressions and ventilations.

Instead of using video recordings, PBLS skills were scored by direct visual assessment. Video-based assessment has some advantages, but also some audiovisual shortcomings. As Jones et al. state: ‘The perspective of the camera is unlike the human eye, and does not have the same peripheral and depth perception that humans have” [12]. Considerations of the candidates may also be inaudible on video. We believe that video-based assessment is not necessarily superior to direct visual assessment, provided that two examiners are involved in the latter, which was the case in this study. One examiner leveled to the manikin’s chest to observe compressions and ventilations from the side of the manikin, as suggested by Jones et al. [12]. The other examiner recorded the duration of compressions and ventilations. It has been reported that most clinicians do not use CPR feedback devices and rely on visual assessment to assess CPR quality during clinical care [12]. As long as this happens on a large scale in real life, it seemed justifiable to assess PBLS visually in this study.

We may have induced selection bias, since pediatricians/residents could decline participation at the time of our visit. The ones who felt more competent may have been more inclined to take part. If so, the pass rates in our study are an overestimation of the true PBLS knowledge and skills amongst pediatricians/residents. This only corroborates the contention that retention of PBLS skills requires attention. In spite of this speculation, we believe that most pediatricians/residents were truly too busy to participate. We were unfortunately not informed about the exact number of pediatricians/residents that were present, but not available for testing during our visit.

Younger participants performed PBLS skills significantly better than their senior colleagues. Since we included more younger participants (34 participants < 40 years vs. 24 participants > 40 years), the skewness in age might have led to an overestimation of PBLS skills. Again, this would underscore our claim that the resuscitation preparedness of pediatricians needs attention.

Finally, we used a five-point Likert scale for self-assessment. Such a categorical scale has been used for self-assessment of resuscitation skills before [24]. We realize, however, that this reduced the precision of our measurement and may have prevented us from finding a correlation between self-assessed competence and performance on the practical exam.

Retention of PBLS skills appears to be poor amongst pediatricians and residents. PBLS knowledge is retained a little better. More research is needed to identify ways to ameliorate the resuscitation preparedness of pediatricians and residents with the ultimate goal to improve the survival rate of children with cardiac arrest.