Original Research Article
Year: 2020 | Month: June | Volume: 10 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 257-263
Awareness, Knowledge and Attitude about Basic Life Support among Interns of Maharashtra University of Health Science’s Affiliated Physiotherapy Colleges in Pune City: A Questionnaire Based Study
Ruta Pandit1, Aditi Ketkar Berry2
1Intern, 2Assistant Professor,
Deccan Education Society’s, Brijlal Jindal College of Physiotherapy, Fergusson College Campus, Pune- 411004
Corresponding Author: Aditi Ketkar Berry
ABSTRACT
Background: Survival after sudden cardiac arrest is usually low and depends on early intervention, quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and time to defibrillation. Prompt actions can improve chances of survival post cardiac arrest. Individuals in community, at least the health care professionals should know how to perform Basic Life Support (BLS) as they often encounter such situations. Physiotherapists being associated with patient care in varied settings, if trained will be able to identify the early signs of cardiac arrest and also provide immediate resuscitation.
Objective: To evaluate the awareness, knowledge and attitude about BLS in interns of all Physiotherapy colleges, affiliated to Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, in Pune city.
Methodology: A questionnaire comprising all three domains was designed. It was administered to all the interns of selected colleges in Pune city. Questionnaire was answered in presence of the investigator. The data was then analyzed and represented as descriptive statistics.
Results: The total number of interns from all the selected colleges was 157, response rate was 100%. The interns scored well in awareness domain but some of the individual components of knowledge domain were incorrect in more than half of the study participants. The most rated reason for reluctance in performing BLS was lack of professional training.
Conclusion: Half of the study participants had no valid BLS training, there is scope for appropriate strategies to be implemented to train maximum number of students which in turn might help to improve outcome post cardiac arrest.
Key words: Awareness, BLS, CPR, Choking, Physiotherapists, Questionnaire