The Effect of Basic Life Support Workshop on Performance Skills of Iranian Undergraduate Dental Students

Background: Considering the occurrence of medical emergencies in dental practice, and the essential need of acquiring competency in Basic life support (BLS), the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of BLS workshop on the skills of dental students in the cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Methods: In this switching replication experimental study, students in the 5th year of Mashhad dental school (Iran) in 2013 participated in the study. All participants completed a baseline assessment at the skill lab (pre-test). To evaluate the practical skills of students in the cardiopulmonary resuscitation, a scenario was presented, and the students were asked to demonstrate all the actions that are necessary to rescue the patient on a manikin. A trained instructor scored their skills according to a standard checklist. Then; the participants were randomly divided into two groups. The first group took BLS workshop and was assessed immediately after the workshop (immediate post-test), while final examination was conducted one month after the course. The same scenario was used for all participants at each testing point. In the second group, the second pretest was taken within one month of the first pretest. Immediately after taking the second pretest, the students participated in workshop, and were assessed immediately after the course. To compare the score of competency in BLS in the two groups, t-test or Mann-Whitney U-test was used. Results: Primary skills of the two groups were almost similar (P= 0.77). Considerable increase in the skills of the two groups was observed after taking the workshop. One month interval between the two pretests in the second group did not cause any significant difference in the students' skills (P = 0.12). A decrease was observed in the skills of first group one month after the first exam (P = 0.003). Conclusions: BLS workshops can significantly increase dental students’ competency in life support. However, considering the retention time of skills, refreshing courses are strictly recommended.