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The nationwide impact of COVID-19 on life support courses. A retrospective evaluation by Resuscitation Council UK
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Thorne, C. J., Kimani, Peter K., Hampshire, S., Hamilton-Bower, I., Begum-Ali, S., Benson-Clarke, A., Couper, Keith, Yeung, Joyce, Lockey, A., Perkins, Gavin D. and Soar, J. (2023) The nationwide impact of COVID-19 on life support courses. A retrospective evaluation by Resuscitation Council UK. Resuscitation Plus, 13 . 100366. doi:10.1016/j.resplu.2023.100366 ISSN 2666-5204.
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WRAP-nationwide-impact-COVID-19-life-support-courses-retrospective-evaluation-Resuscitation-Council-UK-2023.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 4.0. Download (992Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resplu.2023.100366
Abstract
Aim:
To determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Resuscitation Council UK Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Immediate Life Support (ILS) course numbers and outcomes.
Methods:
We conducted a before-after study using course data from the Resuscitation Council UK Learning Management System between January 2018 and December 2021, using 23 March 2020 as the cut-off between pre- and post-pandemic periods. Demographics and outcomes were analysed using chi-squared tests and regression models.
Results:
There were 90,265 ALS participants (51,464 pre-; 38,801 post-) and 368,140 ILS participants (225,628 pre-; 142,512 post-). There was a sharp decline in participants on ALS/ILS courses due to COVID-19. ALS participant numbers rebounded to exceed pre-pandemic levels, whereas ILS numbers recovered to a lesser degree with increased uptake of e-learning versions. Mean ALS course participants reduced from 20.0 to 14.8 post-pandemic (P < 0.001).
Post-pandemic there were small but statistically significant decreases in ALS Cardiac Arrest Simulation Test pass rates (from 82.1 % to 80.1 % (OR = 0.90, 95 % CI = 0.86–0.94, P < 0.001)), ALS MCQ score (from 86.6 % to 86.0 % (mean difference = -0.35, 95 % CI −0.44 to −0.26, P < 0.001)), and overall ALS course results (from 95.2 %to 94.7 %, OR = 0.92, CI = 0.85–0.99, P = 0.023). ILS course outcomes were similar post-pandemic (from 99.4 % to 99.4 %, P = 0.037).
Conclusion:
COVID-19 caused a sharp decline in the number of participants on ALS/ILS courses and an accelerated uptake of e-learning versions, with the average ALS course size reducing significantly. The small reduction in performance on ALS courses requires further research to clarify the contributing factors.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Clinical Trials Unit Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- -- Social aspects -- Great Britain, Life support systems (Critical care) , Life support systems (Critical care) -- Study and teaching -- Great Britain, Critical care medicine, Resuscitation -- Study and teaching -- Great Britain, Life support systems (Critical care) -- Computer-assisted instruction, Life support systems (Critical care) -- Computer network resources | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Resuscitation Plus | ||||||||
Publisher: | Elsevier | ||||||||
ISSN: | 2666-5204 | ||||||||
Official Date: | March 2023 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 13 | ||||||||
Article Number: | 100366 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1016/j.resplu.2023.100366 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 2 August 2023 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 2 August 2023 | ||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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