Knowledge and attitude of basic life support skills among female school teacher in Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia

Knowledge and skill level among non-healthcare providers regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in the Middle East (Arab countries): a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Effective education is considered by the American Heart Association (AHA) as a vital variable in improving outcomes of cardiac arrest. Studies have shown that the level of knowledge and attitude of non-healthcare providers towards resuscitation training varies widely across the globe. While some training methods and barriers to training have been discussed, the literature is still quite vague and unclear regarding resuscitation training, particularly in the Middle East. This study's focus on the efficacy of resuscitation training in this region of the world may help dictate how to better implement education initiatives aimed towards non-healthcare providers in developing countries.

METHODOLOGY

A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted on studies published from inception until March 2023. Observational studies assessing CPR knowledge and skills among non-healthcare workers in Arab countries were included. Data were extracted from PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus. Data analysis was performed using Rstudio with a random effects model.

RESULTS

50 studies were included in this review and meta-analysis, revealing that 55% of participants had prior knowledge of CPR, while only 28% considered their knowledge sufficient. The majority (76%) supported mandatory CPR training, and 86% were willing to attend training if offered. This study found that prior knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) varied among populations. This meta-analysis also compiled results regarding CPR technique defined by correct compression to ventilation ratio, compression depth, compression rate, location of chest compression, and correct sequence. The overall results from this meta-analysis showed that, of these factors, compression rate and depth were the two factors that were most often administered incorrectly. In all, the results from this study demonstrated that CPR training in Arab countries was favorably viewed overall, with the majority of participants indicating both support for mandatory CPR training and general willingness to attend training if offered the opportunity.

CONCLUSION

Given the overall positive view and willingness to learn CPR skills, healthcare policy makers should adopt a more comprehensive focus on strategies that enhance the accessibility and opportunity for CPR training for non-healthcare populations in Arab countries. Future training programs should implement strategies to highlight the ideal combination of compression rates and depth to learners to ensure correct and efficacious delivery of CPR with increased focus on the practical portion during refresher courses to promote retention.

Knowledge and willingness of schoolteachers in Jordan to perform CPR: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to assess the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) knowledge and willingness of schoolteachers in Jordan.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study conducted using an online questionnaire.

SETTING

For inclusion in this study, schoolteachers must be currently teaching at any level in schools across the country. Responses were collected from 1 April 2021 to 30 April 2021.

PARTICIPANTS

All schoolteachers actively working in public or private schools were included in our study.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Continuous variables were summarised as means and SD, whereas categorical variables were reported as frequencies and percentages (%). A χ2 test for independence, independent sample t-tests and analysis of variance were used appropriately. A p-value less than 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.

RESULTS

A total of 385 questionnaires were eligible for analyses. Only 14.5% of the participants received CPR training and overall correct knowledge answers were 18.8% of the total score. Those participants with previous CPR training had higher mean knowledge scores (2.34 vs 1.15, p<0.001). Trained participants were also more likely to provide hands-only CPR to various patient groups than untrained participants (p<0.05). Participants were more willing to provide standard CPR to family members than hands-only CPR (p<0.001), but more willing to provide hands-only CPR to friends (p<0.001), students (75.1% vs 58.2%, p<0.001), neighbour (p<0.001), stranger (p=0.001) and patient from the opposite gender (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Schoolteachers in Jordan possess limited knowledge of CPR. However, the study participants showed a positive attitude towards performing CPR. The study revealed that they were more inclined to provide hands-only CPR than standard CPR. Policymakers and public health officials can take advantage of these findings to incorporate CPR training programmes for schoolteachers, either as a part of their undergraduate studies or as continuing education programmes with an emphasis on hands-only CPR.

Knowledge and Attitudes of First Aid and Basic Life Support Among Public School Teachers in Qassim, Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to address the knowledge gap in first aid and basic life support (BLS) among teachers, expand the targeted schools to elementary and intermediate schools for boys and girls, and develop clear, focused recommendations. Furthermore, to assess the knowledge, skills, and attitude of BLS among schoolteachers in Qassim, Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted in the school year of 2022 to 2023. In Buraidah city and the Uyun AlJiwa and Asyah governorates of Qassim, there are a total of 906 elementary and intermediate schools employing 12,057 teachers (5447 males and 6610 females). A stratified random sampling method was used with a self-administered Arabic questionnaire. This questionnaire included multiple parts (sociodemographic data, previous training status, knowledge and skill of BLS, and assessment of the following: attitude to learn and practice CPR; barriers to performing CPR; the presence or lack of previous resuscitation experience in BLS). Data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics version 25 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Categorical variables were described by frequency and percentage, while continuous variables were described by mean ± SD. A normality test showed that the total knowledge and skills scale was not normally distributed. The Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare the mean knowledge and skills scale across variables. The accepted level of significance was below 0.05 (p <0.05).

RESULTS

Our study included 482 participants. Only 19.5% (94) had previous CPR training, and 80.9% (76) were trained more than two years prior to this study's data collection. The main reason for participants' fears of applying BLS was the lack of proper knowledge and skills (48.1%). The majority of the teachers, i.e., 71.0% (342), wanted more training in CPR, and 41.1% (198) thought CPR training should be mandatory at school. We found no statistical relationship between attitude toward training and the city or differences in knowledge and skills scores due to the difference in sociodemographic characteristics. Also, we found no statistical relationship between the question 'Did you observe CPR on a collapsed patient?' and the city, meaning that the observation of CPR on collapsed patients is independent of the respondent's school location. Significant differences in skills scores were found between those who had CPR observation and those who did not (p = 0.014), in knowledge scores between those who had previous CPR training and those who did not (p = 0.034), and in skills scores between those who had previous CPR training and those who did not (p <0.001). We found no significant differences in knowledge and skills scores according to the place of previous CPR training (p = 0.163 and p = 0.695, respectively).

CONCLUSION

This study reveals that knowledge and skills in BLS among schoolteachers need to be improved. For this reason, we emphasize the inclusion of International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) recommendations in the curriculum and that they are made periodic and mandatory for teachers. Especially as we found teachers to have a positive attitude and were willing to train and help.

Knowledge and Attitudes around First Aid and Basic Life Support of Kindergarten and Elementary School Teachers and Parents in Taif City, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND

The foremost cause of children's (1-19 year) death is inadvertent injuries. While most of these accidental harms occur at home and school, rapid and suitable parental and teacher intervention is required to increase the chances of a child's survival. Therefore, both parents and teachers of the children in kindergarten and elementary school must be knowledgeable in first aid practice and basic life support (BLS) training.

OBJECTIVES

In the current study, our ambition is to evaluate the orientation level, knowledge, and attitudes around first aid and BLS training of kindergarten and elementary school teachers and parents in the city of Taif, Makkah region.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study in Taif, Saudi Arabia, targeted kindergarten and elementary school teachers and parents of students enrolled at these levels. There were 648 participants included in this study. The researchers assessed teachers' and parents' knowledge and attitudes around first aid and BLS using a validated, self-administered online questionnaire.

RESULTS

The study included 648 participants, including 248 (38.3%) teachers and 400 (61.7%) parents. The socio-demographic analysis showed that 412 (63.6%) are females and 233 (36.5%) are between the ages of 36 and 45 years. Approximately 142 (21.9%) participants reported previous training in the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) program, though more than half of them (53.5%) had outdated certificates (more than 2 years). The mean total knowledge for our study was 4.6 ± 1.4, with 22.4% of the participants being educated about first aid support and expressing a fair level of CPR foundations. Only a small percentage (2.3%) of the participants exposed a good and adequate theoretical level of knowledge around CPR skills and performance, while most of the contributors unveiled a poor level of knowledge (over 75%). There were no statistically significant differences between parents and teachers (p > 0.05). Finally, numerous participants (85%) appreciated training in the CPR program, and the most common motive was a "wish to avoid unnecessary death".

CONCLUSIONS

We concluded that a sizable portion of the contributors expressed a lack of proficiency in the fundamental CPR training knowledge and skills, pointing to an alarming public concern. Promisingly, a sizable percentage of participants expressed motivated attitudes toward CPR training. Therefore, additional study and data are required to effectively combat injury, with an emphasis on investigating causes and risk factors, burden and socioeconomic health determinants, community awareness level and desire to contribute, and accessibility for disseminating specific intervention strategies.

Knowledge and attitudes toward basic life support: survey among school teachers

Aim: It is known that in cases of cardiac arrest, the chance of survival rates increases by 2-3 times with the bystander basic life support (BLS). Considering that children who spend a significant part of the day apart from their families at school have their teachers with them, it is understood how important the BLS knowledge and skills of teachers are. In our study, we analyzed the knowledge of primary, secondary and high school teachers about BLS and their thoughts about this training. Material and Method: The study was conducted by face-to-face interview with 200 primary/secondary school and high school teachers working in Istanbul in 2019. The teachers participating in the study were evaluated with questionnaires related to their demographic characteristics, their level of knowledge about BLS and their thoughts about BLS training. Correct answers and “yes” answers were calculated with 1 point, incorrect answers and “no” answers were calculated with 0 points. Results: In the BLS information levels survey of female participants, it was found that they scored statistically lower for questions “Do you know emergency medical service number?” and “Emergency medical service call-up in critical condition” (p˂0.05). Again, female participants had a lower score in the answers to all questions in the BLS application/education request questionnaire according to their gender (p˂0.05). Participants who had previously received BLS training were found to score higher on certain questions in BLS knowledge levels and BLS application/training request questionnaires. Conclusion: In the study, it was found that primary/secondary and high school teachers lack the available BLS information. It was determined that people who have been trained in this subject are more willing to BLS training and applications than people who have not been trained in BLS.

Basic life support knowledge in a war-torn country: a survey of nurses in Yemen

Background

Successful implementation of Basic life support (BLS) is critical to improving survival rates and outcomes, especially among healthcare workers. To our knowledge, there is no available literature pertaining to the level of BLS knowledge of health care professionals in Yemen.

Methods

Data was collected for this cross-sectional descriptive study from June to August 2020, using a 10-item questionnaire related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and BLS, along with questions on socio-demographic characteristics. Participants were nurses in public and private hospitals located in Al-Rahida and Al-dimna cities, Taiz governance and Hodeidah city, Hodeidah governance in Yemen.

Results

Out of 220 distributed questionnaires, 200 were returned with a response rate of 90.9%. More than a half (53.65%) of answer choices for BLS knowledge were correct. There was a significant difference in knowledge score based on level of education where those who had Bachelor degree had more knowledge (P = 0.000). Those who said they had received training in CPR or received information about CPR had significantly higher scores than those who did not receive (P = 0.000).

Conclusions

BLS knowledge among nurses in Yemen is below an acceptable level to ensure maximum survival in the event of cardiac arrest. Disseminating BLS information and training in a cost effective and efficient manner will provide a large benefit in terms of lives saved with minimal costs.

How much ambulance personnel know about basic life support (BLS)? A hospital-based study from Eastern India

Background:

Basic life support (BLS) is an important component of emergency medical management. Ambulance personnel play a key role in resuscitation to save a life before reaching the hospital. We do not have any published data about the level of knowledge on BLS among the ambulance personnel.

Objective:

This study was done with the objective to assess the level of knowledge on BLS among the ambulance personnel.

Materials and Methods:

A cross-sectional study was done in the emergency department (ED) of a tertiary care hospital. Universal sampling was done taking all the personnel of ambulances over the period of one month. Data were collected about the type of vehicle used for ambulance, the number of personnel in an ambulance, educational qualifications, and equipment present in their ambulances. The questionnaire to capture the level of knowledge were based on American Heart Association 2015 guidelines.

Result:

The total number of ambulance arrivals was 729 times. But data analysis was done from 104 ambulances excluding the repeat arrivals and those who did not give consent. There were 62 type-C and D ambulances, and 42 were type-B ambulances. Total of 210 personnel were there in 104 ambulances. Seventy-nine team leaders did not have any paramedical degrees. Fifty-eight team leaders were trained in BLS before working in an ambulance. In spite of this, 66 (63%) team leaders had poor performance (score of 0 to 4).

Conclusion:

The level of knowledge on BLS was poor in more than half of the ambulance personnel. They should be trained regularly on providing BLS.