Knowledge of Non-medical Individuals about Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Case of Cardiac Arrest: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Population of Marat City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a fundamental component of initial care, as most sudden cardiac arrests happen at home. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge and attitude of non-medical people related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the case of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest among individuals in Marat City, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included 140 of non-medical individuals in Marat city. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the participants to assess the community's willingness to perform CPR and determine the barriers to performing CPR. It consists of 3 sections, the first section questioning demographic and background variables. The second section is a checklist for collecting data about the willingness to perform CPR, while the third section will focus on participants’ barriers to performing CPR. The data were analyzed to present the findings in the descriptive and inferential statistics at a level of 0.05 significance.
Results: Out of 140 participants, 88 (62.9%) were females with a mean age of (28.1 ± 2.4) years. The main manifestation of more than half of the respondents suggested that the main sign of sudden cardiac arrest is chest pain (72.%). The main feature of consciousness evaluation that was reported by more than two quarters was “no response when called” 77.1%, which is followed by “no response when touched” (52.9%). The main reason that may prevent someone from giving a chest compression to a stranger was reported as “making a mistake” (67.9%) followed by “punishment due to legal reasons” (8.6%). More than half of the sample (61.4%) defined the device defibrillator as It is a device used to restart a heart that has stopped working, while (72.1%) of the sample don't have any idea about where an ‘automated external defibrillator' or a ‘pacemaker' can be found.
Conclusions: Community knowledge of CPR is limited when compared to neighboring countries' knowledge levels. Furthermore, some false beliefs exist. By generalizing CPR training to the general public, the level of knowledge and awareness of CPR among adults in society can be increased; as a result, the rate of witnesses who begin CPR can be improved.