Knowledge, attitude, and practice of CPR and willingness to perform it among undergraduate medical students of Najran University, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study
Abdullah Ibrahim Aedh, Emad Abdel-Haliem, Mohamed Farid
Abstract
AIM/OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of CPR and willingness to perform it among undergraduate medical students of Najran University, Saudi Arabia. BACKGROUND: Medical students should possess good knowledge of CPR as they would be expected to encounter emergencies requiring CPR. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students of Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia, from November 2021 to January 2022. METHODS: This prospective cross-sectional study was carried out between November 2021 and January 2022. A validated self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. According to Bloom's cut-off points, the participants' knowledge was categorized as poor, moderate and good, and attitude as negative, neutral and positive. RESULTS: 258 medical students responded to the questionnaire giving a response rate of 77.71%. The participants obtained a mean knowledge score of 6.34 ± 2.17 out of 10. 45% and 35.1% of participants were found to have moderate and good knowledge of CPR. The highest CPR knowledge was observed in medical interns. The participants achieved an average attitude score of 42.12 ± 6.78 out of 50, and about 75.2% showed a positive attitude towards CPR. 55.81% reported attending CPR sessions in their curriculum, and only 21.3% had ever performed chest compressions on a patient who collapsed. The majority of the participants were willing to perform CPR in an emergency. CONCLUSION: The medical students should be provided with regular CPR courses and refresher training during their graduation. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.