CPR knowledge and attitudes among high school students aged 15-16 in Hong Kong

Background: Sudden cardiac arrest is a serious public health problem in Hong Kong, with up to 85% of victims not surviving to hospital admission. International research findings show that teaching cardio- pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to lay bystanders can significantly improve out-of-hospital survival rates. A particular target group for CPR training and education is high school students. Since the commonest site of sudden cardiac deaths in Hong Kong occur at home, school-age adolescents are likely to be the only available bystanders in many emergent situations. Design: Questionnaire survey. Methods: This study investigated CPR knowledge and attitudes of 383 students aged 15-16 years across 18 schools in Hong Kong to understand barriers and facilitators for CPR delivery. A questionnaire pilot tested and validated by a panel of health professionals was distributed to students, using a convenience sampling methodology. Results: Most students (87%) had not received CPR training, with common reasons for not attending being lack of time, lack of interest and not sure where to attend a course. Results of Mann Whitney U tests indicated that students who had received training scored significantly (p<0.05) higher on factual knowledge and also attitudes toward CPR training than those without training. There were no gender differences. Most students reported that they would attempt to perform CPR in a cardiac arrest situation, even if they had not received training, because they believed that CPR could increase the survival rate and it was morally the right thing to do. Conclusions: Teaching CPR to Hong Kong school students is an effective way to develop the next generation of emergency first responders. 

背景：突發性心跳驟停是香港一個嚴重的公共衛生問題，無法存活到入院的受害者達85%。國際研究結果顯示，教普通的旁觀者學心肺復甦術（CPR），可以顯著提高院外心跳驟停的存活率。CPR 培訓和教育的一個特定目標群體是高中學生。由於在香港心源性猝死最常見發生在家中，在許多緊急情況中適齡青少年很可能是唯一可用的旁觀者。設計：問卷調查。方法：本研究橫跨香港18 所學校383 名年齡15-16歲的學生，探討心肺復甦知識和態度，以便認識施行CPR 的促進和障礙因素。調查問卷經過試點測試和由衛生專業人員組成的小組驗證，採用方便抽樣的方法分發給學生。結果：大多數學生（87%）沒有接受CPR 培訓，不參加的常見原因是缺乏時間，缺乏興趣，與不知道在哪裡參加課程。 曼惠特尼U 檢驗結果表明，接受了培訓的學生比那些沒有接受訓練的，在事實性知識和對CPR 訓練態度的得分顯著較高（p<0.05）。得分沒有性別差異。大多數學生報告說，即使他們沒有接受過培訓，也將試圖在心跳驟停的情況下進行心肺復甦術，因為他們相信CPR 能提高患者的生存率，這樣做在道德上是正確的。結論：教香港學生 CPR 是發展下一代緊急第一救援者的有效途徑。Copyright © 2015 Medcom Limited.