CPR Study Produces Upbeat Results

Disco never dies. And it may just increase your chances of stayin' alive.

Researchers at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria say there are health benefits to keeping to the beat (and, no, they weren't talking about doing the hustle or the bump.) It turns out that medics trained to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation while listening to the Bee Gees' 1970s hit "Stayin' Alive" performed chest compressions at a near-perfect rate and reported feeling confident in their abilities.

The song's steady rhythm of 103 beats per minute is close to the 100 chest compressions per minute recommended by the American Heart Association. Some CPR instructors already play the song in classes to help students pick up the beat.

Previous studies of CPR have shown that "the biggest problem is that people don't do chest compressions fast enough," says David Matlock, an emergency physician and the study's lead researcher. CPR may triple survival rates for cardiac arrest, Matlock says, but "many people hesitate to jump in because they don't feel confident about maintaining the proper rhythm."

When they were tested without the background beat five weeks after their training, the physicians and medical students who had learned to perform to "Stayin' Alive" attained a rhythm of on average 113 compressions per minute -- within the acceptable range -- and said they still felt confident in their abilities.

Researchers called the results encouraging and recommeded testing the musical memory aid in a larger population.

So the beat goes on . . .

-- Frances Stead Sellers