Impact of a Mobile Application for Heart Rate Assessment in Simulated Neonatal Resuscitation

Impact of a Mobile Application for Heart Rate Assessment in Simulated Neonatal Resuscitation: a Randomized Controlled Crossover Study

NeoTapAdvancedSupport (NeoTapAS) is a free-of-charge mobile application that showed good accuracy in HR estimation. This study aims to evaluate the impact of NeoTapAS on timing of HR communication and of resuscitation interventions in a high fidelity simulation scenario.

Assessing the HR by auscultation can be limited due to imprecise auscultation and/or errors in mental computation, leading to inappropriate or delayed resuscitation. Previous studies evaluated a free-of-charge mobile application (NeoTapAdvancedSupport, NeoTapAS) to help HR assessment in a simulated scenario of neonatal resuscitation. NeoTapAS showed good accuracy in estimating HR and could be a useful tool in resource-constrained settings.

Another potential advantage of using NeoTapAS may be the anticipation of HR communication during resuscitation, because it avoids mental computation and possible errors due to the stressful situation. In addition, prompt HR assessment may lead to anticipating resuscitation interventions. However, these hypotheses remain to be demonstrated.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the promptness in HR communication using NeoTapAS compared with mental computation in a high-fidelity simulated newborn resuscitation scenario. In addition, the impact of NeoTapAS on timing of resuscitation procedures will be investigated.

Inclusion Criteria:

• All pediatric residents from third to fifth year of residency of the University of Piemonte Orientale who were trained on neonatal resuscitation

Exclusion Criteria:

• Lack of EC approval
• Lack of consent to record the scenario and to use the data