Awareness and attitude of final year students towards the learning and practice of cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major cause of sudden cardiac death which can be prevented by early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). International bodies recommend that basic life support (BLS) skills be taught in schools in order to increase the rate of bystander CPR and reduce mortality from OHCA. We are not aware of any BLS education program for non-healthcare students in Nigeria. This study was to assess the awareness and attitude to acquiring BLS skills among university students. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study among final year university undergraduates using a questionnaire that assessed students' sociodemographic characteristics, awareness of CPR, previous experiences, and attitude to basic life support (BLS). Counts and proportions were compared for the demographic characteristics using Chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests. Results Four hundred and seventy-five students from 15 faculties participated in this study, median age was 22.8 years (interquartile range: 21.2–24.5 years). Majority (82.5%) have heard of CPR, 29.7% have undergone CPR training; 77.3% of those who had been trained were confident that they could perform CPR. Previous CPR training was significantly associated with faculty, year of study and age. Eighty-nine (18.7%) students have witnessed someone die from a trauma. Four hundred and fifty (94.7%) respondents would like to get BLS training, 440 (92.6%) think that CPR training should be included in the school curriculum. Conclusion There is good awareness and positive attitude to the acquisition and practice of cardiopulmonary resuscitation among university students in Nigeria. Few students however, have been trained to administer bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Therefore, there is a need to implement university wide BLS education in Nigeria.

Awareness, Knowledge of First Aid and First Emergency Behavioral Perception of Medical Students in a University in Southeastern Nigeria

“…This was also reflected when about half of the respondents who didn't assist an injured victim attributed their reason to lack of skills. This is in contrast to the work of Adewale et al [13] who reported fear of contracting infection as the major reason why respondents did not administer help. The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation has strongly recommended the need to incorporate the training of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) into every school curriculum, especially medical schools [14].…”

“…Majority of the students agreed that basic first aid and basic life support training be incorporated into the schools' curriculum. This is a factor that the country's education ministry should consider as several studies are also in conformity [2,6,13,15]. Knowledge of first aid of the participants showed no statistical correlation with their behavioural perception which indicates the fact that the students have good attitude towards first aid irrespective of their poor knowledge of the skills.…”

Knowledge, attitudes and awareness of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in physiotherapists of Karachi–A Cross-sectional Survey

“…Our findings are supported by 13,14 Upon evaluation of the aforementioned statements we identified that in contrast to a research conducted by 12 in terms of age and work experience, This could be explained by the fact that practice of CPR in Pakistan is the field of clinical health practitioners, as related to developed states that emphasizes CPR education to community, which includes college students as well. 16,18 When compared to a study conducted by 17 it was noticed that 26.2% physical therapists had used CPR in an emergency situation and their CPR skills yielded successful results.…”

A Review of the Commercially Available ECG Detection and Transmission Systems—The Fuzzy Logic Approach in the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

“…Thus, several organizations like the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), the European Parliament, and the World Health Organization (WHO) [11,12] recommend that CPR training should be included in secondary school curriculum in order to increase the number of people with Basic Life Support (BLS) skills, which in turn improves the rate of bystander-performed CPR. Such classes are already mandatory in several primary and secondary schools and universities across Europe, USA, and other countries [20].…”