Rate at 120/min provides qualified chest compression during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

OBJECTIVES

The quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a very important prognostic factor for cardiac arrest. Chest compression is thought to be one of the most important aspects of high-quality CPR. Recent studies have prompted that there may be an interaction between chest compression rate and other factors related to the quality of chest compression. We aimed to investigate the effect of different compression rates on chest compression depth, recoil, and rescuers' fatigue point during CPR.

METHODS

Participants performed 2 minutes of chest compression-only CPR after the guiding sounds, at 3 rates (100, 120, and 140 compressions/min) in random sequence. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare the average chest compression depth and other factors related to the quality of chest compression among the groups.

RESULTS

As the chest compression rate increases through all the 3 rates, the fractions of chest compressions with complete release and the fractions of chest compressions with sufficient depth were deteriorated at the rate of 140 compressions/min (P < .05), although the average compression depth was above the recommended 2010 guideline depth of 5 cm(P > .05). Of note, the fatigue point at 140 compressions/min happened significantly (P < .05) sooner.

CONCLUSION

Our study supported the concern of some that there may be a risk of increasing recommended chest compression rate without providing an upper limit. An appropriate choice may be 120 compressions/min.