Retention of learning after training in Basic Life Support using low fidelity simulation in a dental hospital unit

AIMS: To evaluate the learning retention of participants of a Basic Life Support course in a dental unit of a university hospital.METHODS: This study combined quantitative and qualitative methods in a quasi-experimental design, in which the same subjects were compared before and at two moments after an intervention, which consisted of a training course in Basic Life Support. The participants were employees of the Oral Health Unit of the University Hospital of Brasília. Three evaluations were performed: pre-test, post-test and late post-test, in order to assess participants' learning retention. In a second stage of the research, interviews were conducted with the participants approved in the retention learning test.RESULTS: At all, 66 professionals participated in the course and carried out the theoretical pre-test and the theoretical and practical post-test. One year and five months after the course, 10 participants were submitted to the late post-test, also theoretical and practical. Regarding the theoretical knowledge, the mean was 6.3±2.31 points in the pre-test, 8.3±1.25 points in the post-test and 5.1±1.44 points in the late post-test. Late post-test results revealed also that 70% of participants met the minimum theoretical knowledge requirement for approval (5 of 10 points) but only 20% passed the practical retention assessment. The two participants who passed the practical evaluation had repeated the training after the initial course.CONCLUSIONS: Basic Life Support training based on simulation resulted in practical and theoretical learning in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. However, the effect did not persist after one year and five months, except for participants who repeated the training during this period, indicating that the long term retention of this learning requires more opportunities for training or practice. Further studies are needed to investigate the ideal workload, the number of repetitions required during training and the appropriate frequency of training, as well as to obtain information about the influence of prior knowledge of the participants and the practice after training in retention of skills. OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a retenção de aprendizagem dos participantes de um curso de Suporte Básico de Vida em uma unidade odontológica de um hospital universitário.MÉTODOS: Este estudo combinou métodos quantitativos e qualitativos em um delineamento quasi-experimental, em que foram comparados os mesmos sujeitos, antes e em dois momentos após u