Abstract

Purpose: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is an extensive public health problem, so cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has been widely taught to lay communities. However, little research has been done to assess attitude and reluctance to performing CPR in Korea. The present study clarified the basic factors affecting attitude and reluctance towards resuscitation in Seoul, Korea. Methods: Using a telephone survey of a randomly selected sample of Seoul citizens, we questioned 1,007 subjects over a 2 week period in November 2006 on their prior training, knowledge, and awareness of resuscitation. The survey questions sought to clarify basic aspects of knowledge and attitude towards CPR, as well as to gather demographic information. Results: Forty-five percent of subjects had previously been taught CPR. Of these, 70% had been taught more than two years previously. While sixty-nine percent indicated a general willingness to performed CPR on a stranger, only 6.8% responded that they definitely would perform CPR. In addition, only 3.3% were able to remember the correct compression-to-ventilations ratio for adult CPR. Of the 314 respondents who were unwilling to performed CPR, 44.3% gave as their reason the risk involved in a deteriorating situation, while 33.1% cited a lack of CPR knowledge. The factors most related to CPR performance and reluctance were male (odds ratio=1.997, p=0.048), prior CPR education (odds ratio=1.798, p=0.001), and accuracy of CPR knowledge (odds ratio=1.983, p=0.001). Conclusion: Although general awareness of CPR among the Korean community is high, practical knowledge relating to the performance of basic CPR is poor. This suggests that present community CPR educational strategies had limited efficacy.

Keywords

• Attitude;
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation;
• Education