Knowledge and attitudes among young adults attending Basic Life Support training in a tertiary care institution

Abstract

Acute emergencies outside hospitals warrant the need for awareness of general public in basic life support (BLS) in the absence of trained personnel for enhancing the survival of victims. This study focuses on the knowledge, attitude and its associated factors among the youth regarding BLS. A cross sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care institution among 172 young adults, who attended cardiac life support training programme. A data sheet comprising of demographic variables and a content validated questionnaire for knowledge and attitude regarding BLS was administered prior to training. Higher scores meant higher knowledge and attitude levels. Mean age of respondents was 23.73 years ± 6.47 with majority (90.1%) of them belonging to 20 to 30 year age group. 124 (72.2%) had poor knowledge before training. The attitude level was good in 49.4% of study participants. Those who had prior BLS training, higher age group and married were significantly associated with attitude levels of the participants. Overall, the attitude was good in spite of low knowledge level emphasizing the need of inclusion of such training sessions in various institutions to act in the golden hour for victims’ survival.