Comparison of Face-To-Face and Virtual Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training Based on the Rate of Learning Resuscitation Skills in Military Families: A Clinical Trial Study.

Background & aim: Cardiac arrest and heart attack are the most common cardiovascular diseases in the world. Most of the time, during a cardiac arrest, there is a person as an observer who can prevent brain death and save the patient's life in the golden time (first 4 to 6 minutes of cardiopulmonary arrest) by performing resuscitation. The aim of this study was to compare two methods of basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation training in person and virtual on the level of learning resuscitation skills (awareness and performance) in military families. Methods: In this clinical trial study, 100 people from families living in selected organizational areas were randomly assigned to two groups of face-to-face training (50 people) and virtual training (50 people). In the face-to-face training group, during a 2-hour session, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and how to deal with cardiac arrest victims were taught theoretically and practically (mannequins). In the virtual educational group, educational materials were presented by using virtual channels (once-up Weita platform) and sending animation videos, photos, short texts, and PDF files of educational booklets during two weeks. In order to collect data, a demographic form, an awareness questionnaire including 14 four-choice questions, and a performance assessment checklist including 13 items were used to assess the skill in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. At the end, the collected data were compared between the two groups. Results: Data related to age (P = 0.468), sex (P = 0.812), education (P = 0.307), occupation (P = 0.055) had no significant difference in the two groups. The U-Man-Whitney test showed that there was no statistically significant difference before the intervention between the two groups of face-to-face and virtual education in terms of knowledge and skill levels (P>0.05). Wilcoxon's statistical test showed that the difference in the mean score of knowledge and skill level before and after the intervention in both face-to-face and virtual education groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Furthermore, the U-Man Whitney test showed that there is a statistically significant difference after the intervention between the two groups of face-to-face and virtual training in terms of knowledge and skill level (P<0.05). Conclusion: In this research, in both face-to-face and virtual training groups, the amount of knowledge and skill increased significantly compared to before and after the training. However, by comparing the two groups, it was observed that the amount of knowledge in the participants of the virtual training group was higher and the amount of skill in the participants of the face-to-face training group were more. Despite the belief of the effectiveness of face-to-face training, the findings of this research showed that virtual training can be as effective as face-to-face training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]