General Public’s Knowledge Regarding Basic Life Support: A Pilot Study with a Portuguese Sample

Abstract

RESUMOIntrodução: O suporte básico de vida é uma manobra fundamental em situação de paragem cardíaca com grande impacto na sobrevida da vítima. Este estudo investiga o conhecimento do público geral sobre os fundamentos do suporte básico de vida e a sua associação com o treino/educação prévia e a autoperceção do conhecimento. Um segundo objetivo é avaliar a opinião sobre as necessidades de treino. Material e Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal, exploratório e descritivo, utilizando uma amostra de conveniência de 655 indivíduos. A ferramenta de recolha de dados consistiu num questionário contendo 21 questões. Uma análise estatística descritiva e inferencial explorou as possíveis associações entre variáveis. Resultados: O conhecimento geral teve uma pontuação (75,9% ± 14,2%) estatisticamente significativa (p < 0,001) superior ao conhecimento técnico (31,2% ± 29,7). Considerando o conhecimento total, a pontuação média foi de 49,0% ± 20,3%, com 100 (15,3%) inquiridos com pontuação igual ou superior a 70% e apenas 12 (1,8%) respondendo corretamente a todas as questões. Menos de 30% da amostra teve treino prévio em suporte básico de vida. Discussão: O conhecimento em suporte básico de vida tem associações importantes e estatisticamente significativas com a proveniência do conhecimento e o tempo decorrido do treino anterior. A associação da autoperceção do conhecimento e as pontuações reais mostraram, em geral, que os participantes têm uma perceção correta do seu conhecimento. As pontuações de conhecimento indicam uma falta de treino e conhecimento na população em geral. Conclusão: Os resultados deste estudo reforçam a necessidade de treino prático e regular de suporte básico de vida, idealmente no local de trabalho e no início da vida. Os participantes reconhecem que o seu conhecimento em suporte básico de vida é residual ou baixo e estão motivados a participar em cursos de treino e/ou revalidação. Palavras-chave: Conhecimentos, Atitudes eABSTRACT Introduction: Basic life support is a key manoeuvre in a cardiac arrest situation that can often save a victim's life. This study investigates the general public's knowledge about the fundamentals of basic life support, and its association with previous training/education on basic life support and self-perception of knowledge. A secondary goal is to assess the opinion on training needs. Material and Methods: This is a cross-sectional, exploratory, and descriptive study, using a convenience sample of 655 individuals. A survey containing 21 questions was applied. A descriptive and inferential statistical analysis explored potential associations between variables. Results:The mean score for general knowledge (75.9% ± 14.2%) was statistically significantly higher (p < 0.001) than for technical knowledge (31.2% ± 29.7). Considering the overall knowledge, the mean score was 49.0% ± 20.3%, with 100 (15.3%) respondents scoring equal or higher than 70%, and only 12 (1.8%) answering all questions correctly. Less than 30% of the sample had previous training in basic life support. ...

Conocimiento actual de la reanimación cardiopulmonar en la población universitaria del centro-occidente de México

“…CPR teaching could be improved with the implementation of high-fidelity medical simulation programs, attached to current guidelines. 33 Compared with other series, our cohort has lower rates of previous CPR training against developed and high-income countries (as Norway, Denmark, USA, Portugal, and Japan) 19,21,28,29,31 but is similar to those found in upper-middle, lower-middle and low-income countries (as China, Turkey, and Malaysia). 17,34 Unfortunately, to this date, Mexico has no programs to implement mandatory CPR training in the scholar curricula; we face several barriers to improve these health policies, especially their economic cost and trainer availability.…”

“…17 Developed countries report that even more than half of their university students had been trained in CPR techniques; these countries also show better OHCA outcomes. [18][19][20][21] In contrast, developing countries have shown lower rates of CPR training in their population. 17,22 Some authors have proposed to start CPR learning at younger ages, where satisfaction and confidence levels are higher.…”

The impact of basic life support training among KIBOGORA district hospital staff: A pilot study

“…In their study, they conducted between December 2012 and May 2013,in the emergency services for adults of the hospitals of Murcian Health Service on assessment of the knowledge level and its relevance in terms of CPR in medical personnel, Sanchez Garcia et al found that 52.5% of clinical staff passed the BLS test [11] that is they got a score above 50%.Compared to our study for which only 12,1% of clinical staff passed the BLS test, clinical staff in Murcia had a better knowledge on BLS than KIBOGORA hospital staff. The findings from another study that was done in Portugal by Carla sa Couto and Abel Nicolau [12]revealed better results than the ones from our study and this highlighted the need to train adequately KIBOGORA hospital staff on BLS.…”

Outcomes of arrest patients resuscitated in an emergency department: a prospective, observational study

“…The major concern in the last term was the quality of CPR in lowand middle-income countries [3]. Although the proportion of people in high-income countries who know nothing about BLS is low [4], the proportion in developing countries is notable [5,6]. This inadequate knowledge may lead to a delay in the initiation of CPR in developing countries.…”