Effectiveness of simplified chest compression-only CPR training for the general public: A randomized controlled trial

Objectives: To compare the quality of resuscitation between those with a simplified chest compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) program and those with a conventional CPR program. Methods: The participants were randomly assigned to either the 120-min training program of chest compressions (chest compression-only CPR) or the 180-min training program of chest compressions and ventilations (conventional CPR). Main outcome measures were the net number of appropriate chest compressions during the 2-min test period and the proportion of appropriate chest compressions over the theoretically attainable number one month after the training. Results: 223 participants were enrolled and 104 in each group completed this study. The 2-min number of appropriate chest compressions was 86.1 ± 57.2 in the chest compression-only CPR group, which was significantly greater than 57.1 ± 30.2 in the conventional CPR group (p < 0.001). The proportion of appropriate chest compressions was higher in the chest compression-only CPR group than in the conventional CPR group (47.1 ± 31.1% versus 38.1 ± 20.1%, p = 0.022). Time without chest compressions during conventional CPR reached 85.5 ± 17.0 s out of 120 s, which was significantly longer than that during chest compression-only CPR (33.9 ± 10.0 s, p < 0.001). The total number of ventilations and the number of appropriate ventilations during 2 min was 2.5 ± 3.0 and 0.9 ± 1.6, respectively. Conclusions: A simplified chest compression-only CPR program makes it possible for the general public to perform a greater number of appropriate chest compressions than the conventional CPR program (UMIN-CTR C0000000321).