Abstract
Introduction
The advanced life support (ALS) provider course is the gold standard for teaching
and assessing competence in advanced resuscitation. Outcomes over a 5-year period
of European Resuscitation (ERC)/IRC ALS provider courses in Italy were investigated,
and the factors associated with course success are described.
Methods
In 2008, the Italian Resuscitation Council (IRC) created a database in which every
ERC/IRC ALS course was recorded. Data from courses organized from 2008 to 2012 were
analysed. The data included: candidate's age and degree (medical doctor (MD) or nurse),
medical specialty of MD candidates, course outcomes, duration and reference guidelines,
number of instructors and course director. Relationships between the course outcomes
and the courses and candidates’ characteristics were analysed using logistic regression.
Results
A total of 13,624 candidates were evaluated from 871 courses. Among the candidates,
55% were MDs and 45% were nurses. Ninety-seven percent of candidates passed the final
evaluation, while 3% failed. Candidates who passed were younger (37 [31–44] vs. 43
[37–50] years, p < 0.0001) and had a greater pre-course resuscitation knowledge (multiple choice quiz
(MCQ) score: 88 [83–93] vs. 80 [73–87], p < 0.0001) compared to those who failed. The course pass rate was higher for MDs compared
to nurses (98% vs. 95%, p < 0.0001) and participants in emergency disciplines were most significantly associated
with course success (χ2 71, p < 0.0001). In the multivariate analysis, an older age (OR 0.926, 95%CI [0.915–0.937])
was independently associated with course failure, while being a MD (OR 3.021, 95%CI
[2.212–4.132]), having a higher pre-course MCQ score (OR 1.033, 95%CI [1.026–1.040])
together with a higher candidate/instructor ratio (OR 1.314, 95%CI [1.067–1.618]),
and having a longer course duration (OR 1.717, 95%CI [1.090–2.703]), were independently
associated with success.
Conclusions
Younger age, professional background, and pre-course resuscitation knowledge are the
most important predictors of ALS provider course success, together with higher candidate/instructor
ratios and longer course durations.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 21, 2015
Accepted:
August 14,
2015
Received in revised form:
July 20,
2015
Received:
March 17,
2015
Footnotes
☆A Spanish translated version of the summary of this article appears as Appendix in the final online version at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2015.08.006.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
