Background/Objective: In 2015, the Saudi Heart Association suggested that one in four adults is at risk for cardiac arrest within the next 10 years. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is considered one of the important determinants for out-hospital cardiac arrest survival. The aim of this study was to assess level of cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and .attitude among students of Albaha University.
Methods: Following a cross-sectional study, questionnaires were distributed to500 students recruited via stratified random sampling technique. Only 341 (68.2%) completed the study.
Results: A total of 341 students were completed the questionnaire; 49% of students had a previous knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Most of students (90%) were not confident on having sufficient CPR knowledge, 69.5% of them knew emergency phone number in Saudi Arabia, and 8.8% of the students had personally witnessed a cardiac arrest victim, of those witnessed cardiac arrest no one did full cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Although 62% of students reported willing to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, when students confronted with 6 hypothetical cardiac arrest scenarios, the option of providing full cardiopulmonary resuscitation are less frequently chosen. Fear of doing mistakes when performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation due to lack of competence were reported in (42.5%) of students as a reason for being reluctant to perform rescue breathing.
Conclusion: The study found that overall attitude toward CPR are positive. However, the proper knowledge of CPR was not sufficient. Thus, the incorporation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation learning approaches within university curricula will provide the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills required to save people lives.
Key words: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Knowledge, Attitude, Students
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