Athletic Training Students Demonstrate Airway Management Skill Decay, but Retain Knowledge over 6 Months

Context: Airway management (AM) knowledge and skills are taught in all athletic training programs; however, research suggests that skill decay occurs with acute care skills as length of nonpractice increases. Objective: Evaluate retention of AM knowledge and skills, specifically oropharyngeal airway (OPA) and nasopharyngeal airway (NPA) use, in athletic training students. Design: Cross-sectional study. Patients or Other Participants: Twenty-five students (8 males, 17 females; age = 21.12 ± 1.42 years) enrolled in Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education-accredited professional athletic training programs. Intervention(s): Participants' AM knowledge and skills were assessed 5 times (baseline-T4). The baseline assessment was followed by an educational review session. Participants were reassessed (T1) before being randomly assigned to 2 groups. The experimental group's AM knowledge and skills were reevaluated at 1 month (T2), 3 months (T3), and 6 months (T4), and the control group's at 6 months (T4). Main Outcome Measure(s): Dependent variables of AM knowledge and skills scores. Groups served as the independent variable. Repeated-measures analysis of variance with between-participants and within-participants effects assessed changes in knowledge skills scores. Results: Testing revealed no significant differences between the groups on knowledge (F[subscript 2.00,46.00] = 0.37, P = 0.70) and overall clinical skills (F[subscript 1.57,36.17] = 0.09, P = 0.87). A significant main effect for time on knowledge (F[subscript 2.00,46.00] = 28.44, P < 0.001) found baseline scores were different from scores at T1 and T4. A significant main effect for time on OPA skills (F[subscript 1.50,34.60] = 65.02, P < 0.001) and NPA skills (F[subscript 1.62,37.31] = 106.46, P < 0.001) found baseline scores were different from scores at T1 and T4 and T1 score was different from T4 score. Conclusions: Both groups retained AM knowledge over a 6-month period, whereas OPA and NPA skills decayed from review session to 6-month follow-up. The lack of significant differences between the groups suggests that subsequent testing may not affect retention of AM knowledge and skills.