Physical characteristics of schoolchildren aged 9-14 years and the quality of chest compressions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, by school year group
| School year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 5 | Year 7* | Year 9 | |
| No of children (girls, boys) | 55 (28, 27) | 54 (31, 23) | 48 (24, 24) |
| Pupils' characteristics (mean (range) values): | |||
| Age (years) | 9.7 (9.2-10.2) | 11.6 (11.1-12.0) | 13.6 (13.1-14.2) |
| Height (cm) | 139 (123-153) | 149 (131-165) | 161 (146-184) |
| Weight (kg) | 35 (24-56) | 42 (26-70) | 54 (35-103) |
| Pupils' chest compression performance†: | |||
| Mean (SD) compression rate/min‡ | 108 (31) | 109 (26) | 116 (25) |
| Percentage who achieved the correct compression rate | 18 | 26 | 30 |
| Mean (SD) compression depth (mm)§ | 23 (6.9) | 28 (9.0) | 35 (7.8) |
| Percentage who achieved the correct compression depth | 0 | 19 | 45 |
| Percentage with 100% correct hand placement | 40 | 22 | 31 |
| Percentage with 80-100% correct hand placement | 58 | 46 | 52 |
*A bias of 31girls to 23 boys in Year 7 did not influence analysis.
†Means represent the average for entire 3 minute period.
‡No statistical relation to age (b=1.6 per year (95% CI −1.1 to 4.3)), P=0.233.
§Significant relation to age (b=3.2 per year (95% CI 2.4 to 4.0)), P<0.001.