Abstract
Background
A novel musical memory aid has been proposed for aiding laypersons in complying with
the American Heart Association (AHA) cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidelines
of 100 compressions per minute (cpm).
Objective
This study tested usefulness of such a memory aid to improve layperson long-term compliance
with CPR compression rate guidelines.
Methods
A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted using CPR-untrained laypersons.
Subjects received either a standard CPR educational experience (AHA Heartsaver® CPR
class) or an experimental CPR educational experience (AHA Heartsaver® CPR class augmented
with a musical metronome). Experimental group subjects were taught to perform compressions
to the cadence of a pop music song (The Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive”; Saturday Night Fever,
The Original Movie Soundtrack; Polygram International Music, 1977) with a tempo of
100 beats/min. Compression rates, depth of compressions, and correct compressions
were measured initially and upon retesting ≥6 weeks post-training.
Results
Control subjects had a higher mean compression rate both immediately (121 [standard
deviation {SD} = 21] vs. 109 [SD = 15] cpm; 95% confidence interval [CI] of mean difference
4−19; p = 0.002) and at follow-up (120 [SD = 20] vs. 111 [SD = 13] cpm; 95% CI of mean difference
2−16; p = 0.014). Compression rates stratified to 100−120 cpm demonstrated no difference
between groups initially (39% vs. 48%; p = 0.382), but more experimental subjects maintained these rates at follow-up (43%
vs. 74%; p = 0.003).
Conclusions
Subjects trained to use a musical metronome more often maintained a compression rate
of 100−120 cpm at ≥6-week follow-up, suggesting the memory aid may improve long-term
guideline adherence.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 01, 2014
Accepted:
July 28,
2014
Received in revised form:
June 29,
2014
Received:
August 2,
2013
Footnotes
Supported with a Graduate Medical Education Grant from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
