Do rescuer body mass index and smoking habits affect cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality?: A manikin simulation study in nurses

Some of the professions that require the knowledge and the ability to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) include physicians, nurses, paramedics, and firefighters. While firefighters are expected to meet certain criteria for body mass index (BMI), height, and weight to be recruited, medical professionals are not expected to meet such criteria. However, some studies have demonstrated that anthropometric variables affect the quality of CPR. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of sex, age, BMI, and smoking habits in CPR practitioners on the quality of CPR. This study was planned as a prospective study. It was conducted with 104 nurses in the emergency department of a tertiary hospital. Participants were randomly assigned to groups of 2 members. Each of the 2 members in the group took turns to perform CPR for 2 minutes. Participants' performance of CPR was recorded using the TrueCPR device. Of the 70 participants who were performed suboptimal CPR, 40 were in the nonsmoking group. Furthermore, 34 participants who were found to perform optimal CPR had a mean BMI of 23.6 (21.2-26.0) kg/m2. Height, weight, and BMI values were found to have statistical significance in optimal CPR. According to the study, low BMI is associated with suboptimal CPR.