Abstract
Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the attitude and influencing factors toward basic life support in the dental hygienists. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 218 dental hygienists in Gwangju. The questionnaire consisted of the general characteristics of the subjects and attitude toward basic life support (BLS). The attitude included cognitive belief, behavioral components, and emotional components. The data were analyzed by independent t-test, one-way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis by using IBM SPSS 21.0 program. Results: The cognitive belief, behavioral component, and emotional components of attitude toward BLS had higher scores in those who were between 34-34 years old and had more than 10 years of career. Most of them worked in dental clinic and did not earn the BLS certificate. There were positive correlations between the cognitive belief, behavioral components, and emotional components toward BLS. By the regression analysis, cognitive belief toward BLS was positively associated with educational experience within a year, behavioral components, and emotional components. The behavioral components were associated with working between 5-10 years in dental clinic and the emotional components. Conclusions: The attitude toward BLS in the dental hygienists was low in cognitive belief, behavioral components, and emotional components. Therefore, BLS education must be expanded to the dental hygienists.
