Project Summary
This research project is in progress. PCORI will post the research findings on this page within 90 days after the results are final. In the meantime, results have been published in peer-reviewed journals, as listed below.
What is the research about?
Patients who have been in the hospital for heart disease have a high risk of sudden cardiac arrest after they go home. Cardiac arrest is when a person’s heart stops beating properly without warning. If a person having cardiac arrest gets CPR, they are two or three times more likely to live. But when cardiac arrest happens at home, family members may not know how to give CPR.
This research study compares two ways of teaching families CPR before they take a family member with heart problems home from the hospital. The first is a kit with a self-instructional video. The second is a free mobile app. By teaching family members CPR before heart patients leave the hospital, researchers hope that fewer people who have cardiac arrest at home will die.
Who can this research help?
The results of this research study may help patients with heart problems and their families as well as healthcare providers who provide CPR training.
What is the research team doing?
The research team is working in several hospitals to teach families CPR using the American Heart Association’s Family and Friends CPR Anytime, a kit with a self-instructional video. The team also worked with cardiac arrest survivors and their families to build a free mobile app for CPR training. Now the team wants to find out which is better for teaching CPR, the video kit or the app.
The research team is training 1,300 family members of heart patients in eight hospitals. Half of the family members are getting the kit, and the other half are getting the mobile app. The research team is testing how well family members remember how to perform CPR six months after the training. They are finding out if family members shared the training with other people in their family and if any of the family members has needed to perform CPR. Also, the research team is using a survey to find out how family members feel about performing CPR.
Research methods at a glance
| Design Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Design | Randomized controlled trial |
| Population | Adults (18 years and older) who are at the hospital with a family member who is at high risk for cardiac arrest. Participants must speak English and/or Spanish. |
| Interventions/ Comparators |
|
| Outcomes |
Primary: chest compression depth, chest compression rate Secondary: secondary CPR training, incidence of bystander CPR provided by subjects |
| 6-month follow-up for primary outcomes |
Journal Articles
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Project Details
Training and Education Interventions
Urban
Women