Mastery Learning Versus Time-based Education: Skill Acquisition and Retention of Basic Life Support in Laypeople

• Sponsor: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Other)
• Overall Status: Completed
• CT.gov ID: NCT02059395
• Collaborator: (none)
• Enrollment: 49
• Location: 1
• Arms: 2
• Duration (Months): 22.7
• Patients Per Site Per Month: 2.2

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Background:

In cardiac arrest survival rates dramatically increase when bystanders are present and initiate Basic Life Support (BLS). However, even though serious efforts have been made, skill retention after a traditional time-based BLS course for laypeople remains suboptimal. In contrast, a mastery learning-based educational approach was shown to be efficacious and might be promising even for laypersons. Therefore the investigators aim to evaluate the impact of a mastery learning-based BLS course on skills retention of BLS in laypeople.

Methods:

Forty laypeople without previous BLS experiences will be randomized into the traditional time-based BLS course group (Control - TB group) or mastery learning-based group (Intervention - ML group).

Both groups will receive BLS training consisting of 6 successive stations including diagnosis of cardiac arrest, chest compression, ventilation, one-rescuer BLS, two-rescuer BLS and AED use. In the ML group, subjects will deliberately practice and receive feedback at each station until a pre-set target level is reached. Subjects will be allowed to proceed to the next station only when they achieve the required target level of performance. In contrast, participants of the TB group will be taught the same 6 stations in two hours, according to standard American Heart Association BLS criteria. All subjects will have an assessment of knowledge and skills immediately after teaching (immediate post-test) and at four months (retention post-test).

Implications:

Previous research has shown that mastery learning-based education improves learners' procedural skill performance. The investigators study will determine the impact of a mastery learning-based BLS course on skill retention in laypeople.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Basic Life Support; Cardiac Arrest	Other: Mastery based learning; Other: Time based learning	N/A

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Actual Enrollment: 49 participants
• Allocation: Randomized
• Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
• Primary Purpose: Other
• Study Start Date: Nov 1, 2013
• Actual Primary Completion Date: May 1, 2014
• Actual Study Completion Date: Sep 24, 2015

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Active Comparator: Time based Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course	Other: Time based learning; Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course according to the official course layout
Experimental: Mastery based Participants do follow the content of the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course content based on their own pace (timeframe)	Other: Mastery based learning; Participants are allowed to follow the course content at their own speed

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

1. Skill Retention Estimated From the Change of AHA Heartsaver Total Score From Immediate Post-test to Retention Test [Baseline and 4 months]

   The official AHA Heartsave adult CPR AED Skill Sheet checklist for single-rescuer BLS was used to capture participants' skills for single-rescuer BLS and defibrillation with an AED. The AHA Heartsaver checklist has 11 action items, participant receives 1 point when an action on the checklist is performed. Therefore, the total score range from 0-11, with higher values represent a better outcome. Immediate post-test and retention test skill performance were evaluated by 2 independent raters. Skill retention was estimated by calculating the change in score from immediate post-test to retention test.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 Years to 80 Years
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

• University students in Ottawa

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students of the Faculty of Medicine

• Previous Basic Life Support Training Certificate

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	The University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre	Ottawa	Ontario	Canada	K1Y 4E9

Sponsors and Collaborators

• Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Investigators

• Principal Investigator: Sylvain Boet, MD, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

• Responsible Party: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02059395
• Other Study ID Numbers: Mastery of BLS
• First Posted: Feb 11, 2014
• Last Update Posted: Jan 30, 2018
• Last Verified: Mar 1, 2017

• Additional relevant MeSH terms: Heart Arrest

Study Results

Participant Flow

Arm/Group Title	Time Based	Mastery Based
Arm/Group Description	Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course Time based learning: Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course according to the official course layout	Participants do follow the content of the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course content based on their own pace (timeframe) Mastery based learning: Participants are allowed to follow the course content at their own speed
Period Title: Overall Study
STARTED	22	27
COMPLETED	20	23
NOT COMPLETED	2	4

Baseline Characteristics

Arm/Group Title	Time Based	Mastery Based	Total
Arm/Group Description	Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course Time based learning: Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course according to the official course layout	Participants do follow the content of the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course content based on their own pace (timeframe) Mastery based learning: Participants are allowed to follow the course content at their own speed	Total of all reporting groups
Overall Participants	22	27	49
Age (years) [Mean (Inter-Quartile Range) ]
Mean (Inter-Quartile Range) [years]	19.5	20.0	19.7
Sex: Female, Male (Count of Participants)
Female	9 40.9%	13 48.1%	22 44.9%
Male	13 59.1%	14 51.9%	27 55.1%
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected (Count of Participants)
Count of Participants [Participants]	0 0%

Outcome Measures

1. Primary Outcome

Title	Skill Retention Estimated From the Change of AHA Heartsaver Total Score From Immediate Post-test to Retention Test
Description	The official AHA Heartsave adult CPR AED Skill Sheet checklist for single-rescuer BLS was used to capture participants' skills for single-rescuer BLS and defibrillation with an AED. The AHA Heartsaver checklist has 11 action items, participant receives 1 point when an action on the checklist is performed. Therefore, the total score range from 0-11, with higher values represent a better outcome. Immediate post-test and retention test skill performance were evaluated by 2 independent raters. Skill retention was estimated by calculating the change in score from immediate post-test to retention test.
Time Frame	Baseline and 4 months

Outcome Measure Data

Analysis Population Description

[Not Specified]

Arm/Group Title	Time Based	Mastery Based
Arm/Group Description	Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course Time based learning: Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course according to the official course layout	Participants do follow the content of the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course content based on their own pace (timeframe) Mastery based learning: Participants are allowed to follow the course content at their own speed
Measure Participants	20	23
Immediate post test total score	8.0	8.0
Retention test total score	8.5	7.0

Adverse Events

Time Frame	Baseline to 4 months
Arm/Group Title	Time Based		Mastery Based
Arm/Group Description	Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course Time based learning: Participants follow the traditional Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course according to the official course layout		Participants do follow the content of the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation Heartsaver Course content based on their own pace (timeframe) Mastery based learning: Participants are allowed to follow the course content at their own speed
All Cause Mortality
	Time Based		Mastery Based
	Affected / at Risk (%)	# Events	Affected / at Risk (%)	# Events
Total	0/22 (0%)		0/27 (0%)
Serious Adverse Events
	Time Based		Mastery Based
	Affected / at Risk (%)	# Events	Affected / at Risk (%)	# Events
Total	0/22 (0%)		0/27 (0%)
Other (Not Including Serious) Adverse Events
	Time Based		Mastery Based
	Affected / at Risk (%)	# Events	Affected / at Risk (%)	# Events
Total	0/22 (0%)		0/27 (0%)

Limitations/Caveats

[Not Specified]

More Information

Certain Agreements

Principal Investigators are NOT employed by the organization sponsoring the study.

There is NOT an agreement between Principal Investigators and the Sponsor (or its agents) that restricts the PI's rights to discuss or publish trial results after the trial is completed.