ArticleBMC medical education2019
The timing of testing influences skill retention after basic life support training: a prospective quasi-experimental study.
Article in BMC medical education, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of virtual and augmented reality for cardiopulmonary resuscitation training: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medical education · 2024Pooled it
- The efficacy of BLS training among fifth-year medical students-a randomized, assessor-blinded, parallel group trial.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- Self-directed learning versus traditional instructor-led learning for education on a new anaesthesia workstation: a noninferiority, randomised, controlled trial.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Trial
- Effective methods to enhance medical students' cardioversion and transcutaneous cardiac pacing skills retention - a prospective controlled study.BMC medical education · 2022Trial
- Can physician-supervised medical students expand access to infant basic life support training? A prospective quasi-experimental study on long-term knowledge retention among caregivers.Resuscitation plus · 2026Article
- Evaluating the impact of peer-led pre-hospital trauma care training on pre-hospital healthcare provider competencies: a pilot study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Evaluating Interprofessional Education Competencies in Nursing and Pharmacy Students During an Interprofessional Problem-Based Learning Activity: A Quasi-Experimental Study.Advances in medical education and practice · 2026Article
- Construction and evaluation of an integrated "Hospital-Community-Family" public cardiopulmonary resuscitation training system.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Short-Term Learning Effects of a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Program with Focus on the Relationship between Learning Effect and Trainees' Perceived Competence.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Differences in Basic Life Support Knowledge Between Junior Medical Students and Lay People: Web-Based Questionnaire Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
- Comparison of Long-Term Effects between Chest Compression-Only CPR Training and Conventional CPR Training on CPR Skills among Police Officers.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundProper basic life support (BLS) is key in improving the survival of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. BLS skills deteriorate in three to 6 months after training. One method to improve skill retention may be using the "testing effect" to test skills at the end of a BLS course. The aim of our study was to investigate whether either testing or the timing of such testing after BLS training have any influence on skill retention.
methodsThis was a post-test only, partial coverage, prospective quasi-experimental study designed to evaluate a BLS training course among 464 fifth year medical students at Semmelweis University in the first semester of 2013/2014. Groups were systematically but non-randomly assigned to either a control group that took no exam or one of two experimental groups that took an exam (N = 179, NoExam group; N = 165, EndExam group - exam at the end of the BLS training; N = 120, 3mExam group - exam 3 months after the BLS training). The ability to perform ten prescribed essential BLS steps was evaluated during a skill retention assessment 2 months after the course in the NoExam, 2 months after the course (and the exam) in the EndExam and 5 months after the course (2 months after the exam) in the 3mExam group to measure skill retention and the effect of our intervention. Scores were calculated for each BLS step, and also summed up as a total score. We used Kruskal-Wallis test to assess differences in skill retention.
resultsOverall, NoExam and EndExam groups showed similar skill retention. The mean total score (and many of the sub-scores) of students was significantly higher in the 3mExam group compared to both the NoExam and the EndExam groups, and there was no difference in the total score (and many of the sub-scores) of the latter two groups. The 3mExam group had less variability in total scores (and many of the sub-scores) than the other two groups.
conclusionOur study provides evidence that testing these skills 3 months after BLS training may be more effective than either testing immediately at the end of the course or no testing at all.
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