The effect of distraction by dual work on a CPR practitioner's efficiency in chest compression

BACKGROUND In the clinical setting, the dispersed practitioners' attention often leads to decreased competence in their performance. We aimed to investigate the effect of distracted practitioners on the quality of chest compression during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. METHODS A randomized controlled crossover simulation study was conducted. Participants were recruited from among doctors, nurses, and paramedics working in a university tertiary hospital. The paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT) was used as a tool for distracting participants. In the crossover design, each participant played 2 scenarios with a 20-minute time gap, by a random order; 2-minute continuous chest compressions with and without PASAT being conducted. The primary outcome was the percentage of compression with an adequate compression rate. Secondary outcomes were the percentage of compression with adequate depth, the percentage of compression with full chest wall recoil, mean compression rate (per minute), mean compression depth, and subjective difficulty of chest compression. RESULTS Forty-four participants were enrolled, and all of them completed the study. It was found that the percentage of compression with an adequate compression rate was lower when the PASAT was conducted. Although there was no difference in the percentage of compression with adequate depth (P = .88), the percentage of compression with complete chest recoil was lower when PASAT was conducted. In addition, while the mean compression rate was higher when PASAT was conducted, the mean compression depth was not significantly different (P = .65). The subjective difficulty was not different (P = .69). CONCLUSIONS Health care providers who are distracted have a negative effect on the quality of chest compression, in terms of its rate and chest wall recoil. TRIAL REGISTRATION www.ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03124290.