Effect of introducing a feedback device during adult and infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation training: A ‘before and after’ study

Objective: This study aimed to verify the effect of introducing a feedback device during adult and infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. Methods: A feedback device was introduced in the cardiopulmonary resuscitation training course of our medical school in the middle of the last semester. The cardiopulmonary resuscitation training course consisted of 2 h of instructor‐led cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and 1 h of self‐practice time. All students should complete the adult and infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation skill tests just after the course. Each test consisted of five cycles of single‐rescuer cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A feedback device was introduced only in the self‐practice session. The cardiopulmonary resuscitation parameters of the skill tests before ( n = 40) and after ( n = 39) introducing the feedback device were analysed. Results: The ratios of correct rate significantly increased after introducing the feedback device in both the skill tests (adult test: 58.5 ± 37.2 vs 85.5 ± 21.4, p  = 0.001; infant test: 55.0 ± 32.4 vs 80.2 ± 20.7, p  = 0.001). Although the average depths did not significantly differ between those before and after introducing the feedback device in the adult test (58.4 ± 4.0 mm vs 59.0 ± 3.7 mm, p  = 0.341), it increased significantly after introducing the feedback device in the infant test (38.3 ± 4.3 mm vs 40.8 ± 1.1 mm, p  = 0.001). Conclusion: Introducing a feedback device might have enhanced the accuracies of compression rate in adult and infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. However, the potential positive effect on chest compression depth was limited to infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation training.