Open AccessAssociation of self-esteem, personality, stress and gender with performance of a resuscitation team: A simulation-based study
Author(s) -
Lucas Tramèr,
Christoph Becker,
Cleo Schumacher,
Katharina Beck,
Franziska Tschan,
Norbert K. Semmer,
Seraina Hochstrasser,
Stephan Marsch,
Sabina Hunziker
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0233155
Subject(s) - conscientiousness , personality , big five personality traits , psychology , agreeableness , resuscitation , association (psychology) , clinical psychology , openness to experience , medicine , extraversion and introversion , social psychology , emergency medicine , psychotherapist
Background Gender composition, stress and leadership of a resuscitation team influence CPR performance. Whether psychological variables such as self-esteem, motivation and personality traits are associated with resuscitation performance, stress levels and gender of rescuers during a cardiac arrest scenario remains uncertain. Methods We included 108 medical students in this prospective, observational simulator study. We videotaped the resuscitation performance and assessed self-esteem, perceived stress-overload and personality traits using validated questionnaires. In addition, we analysed leadership utterances and ECG data of all participants during the simulation. The primary endpoint was cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance, defined as hands-on time within the first 180 sec. Secondary outcomes included first meaningful measure of resuscitation, leadership statements of group leaders and physiological stress parameters of rescuers. Results Adjusted for group size and leadership designation, mean self-esteem of students was significantly associated with hands-on time (adjusted regression coefficient 7.94 (95%CI 2.61 to 13.27), p<0.01). The personality trait conscientiousness was positively associated with hands-on time (adjusted regression coefficient 38.4, [95%CI 7.41 to 69.38, p = 0.02]). However, after additional adjustment for self-esteem, this association was no longer significant. Further, agreeableness of team leaders was significantly associated with longer hands-on time (adjusted regression coefficient 20.87 [95%CI 3.81 to 37.94], p = 0.02). Openness to experience was negatively associated with heart rate reactivity (-5.92 (95%CI -10 to -1.85), p<0.01). Male students showed significantly higher (mean, [±SD]) self-esteem levels (24.6 [±3.8] vs. 22.0 [±4.4], p<0.01), expressed significantly more leadership statements (7.9 [±7.8] vs. 4.6 [±3.8], p<0.01) and initiated first resuscitation measures more often (n, [%]) compared to female students (16, [23] vs. 7, [12], p = 0.01). Conclusion This simulator study found that self-esteem of resuscitation teams and agreeableness of team leaders of inexperienced students was associated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance. Whether enhancing these factors during resuscitation trainings serve for better performance remains to be studied.