Abstract 366: Association Between Attitudes and Preferences in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation with Personality Traits in High-risk, Out-patient Healthcare Settings

Abstract

Background: Little is known about attitudes and preferences towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by outpatient healthcare employees. Investigations assessing the relationship between personality traits and willingness to perform CPR are few. Methods: From 10/2018-5/2019, the Columbia University Patient Safety Department partnered with the AHA to conduct training sessions on how to identify an individual in cardiac arrest and perform CPR at eight outpatient medical sites covering all major medical and surgical specialties (~1 million patient visits/year). Sites included did not have code teams and were in varying distances of the Emergency Department (ED). Participants, 80% of employees at each clinic, were surveyed on characteristics and motivation, as they apply to CPR, and completed the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI). Results: Of the 309 participants, 79% (244 of 309) were women and 32% (99 of 309) were Latinx. Before the investigation, 60% (185 of 309) of participants had learned CPR, but only 8.7% (27 of 309) of those individuals had refreshed their knowledge in the past year. About half, 46% (142 of 309), of participants, scored 6 or above (scale 0-7) on the openness personality trait and 77% (238 of 309) scored a 6 or above (scale 0-7) on the conscientiousness trait. More than half, 67% (207 of 309; CI 61-72) of participants claimed that harming others was a major concern in performing CPR at their practice. Participants with high openness scores were significantly less likely to cite their main concern during resuscitation as harm to the victim (p<0.005). When asked of their willingness to perform CPR, 27% (83 of 309; CI 22-33) of participants cited various patient characteristics as deciding factors. Participants with high conscientiousness scores were significantly less likely to view any patient characteristics as critical in the debate to perform CPR (p<0.0001). Conclusions: In out-patient healthcare offices, very few employees considered patient characteristics in their willingness to perform CPR; however, the majority are concerned that they will harm a patient by attempting to resuscitate. Future studies should look into the role of different personalities in willingness to perform CPR in a real-life setting.