Knowledge and Attitude Towards Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Among Doctors of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Karachi

Abstract

License CC-BY 3.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Objective Cardiac arrest is an emergency, which can be managed effectively by sound knowledge and practice of basic life support (BLS) skills. However, it has been globally reported that the knowledge of doctors regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and BLS is substandard. We conducted this study with the aim to assess the knowledge and attitude of doctors toward CPR in Dr. Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital, one of the largest tertiary care hospitals, in Pakistan. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study, in Dr. Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital located in Karachi, Pakistan, using cluster sampling. A total of 285 doctors were interviewed. Results A majority of the doctors were unaware of the revised rate and depth of chest compressions (65.6% and 75.8% respectively). While many know the abbreviations of BLS and CPR (96.55% and 95.4%, respectively), 56.5% did not know what automated external defibrillator (AED) stood for. CPR was preferred over chest compression-only resuscitation (CCR) by 91.6% of the doctors. Half of the participants rated their knowledge as average. Most stated that they will not be reluctant to perform CPR in an emergency situation. The majority also agreed that BLS training should be an integral part of the medical curriculum.