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World Journal of Emergency Medicine ›› 2017, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (2): 131-135.doi: 10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2017.02.009

• Original Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Knowledge, attitude and anxiety pertaining to basic life support and medical emergencies among dental interns in Mangalore City, India

Vinej Somaraj1(), Rekha P Shenoy2, Ganesh Shenoy Panchmal2, Praveen S Jodalli2, Laxminarayan Sonde2, Ravichandra Karkal3   

  1. 1 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Rajas Dental College & Hospital, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India
    2 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Yenepoya Dental College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
    3 Department of Psychiatry, Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka 575018, India
  • Received:2016-09-16 Accepted:2017-03-06 Online:2017-06-15 Published:2017-06-15
  • Contact: Vinej Somaraj E-mail:v2vinej@gmail.com

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and anxiety pertaining to basic life support (BLS) and medical emergencies among interns in dental colleges of Mangalore city, Karnataka, India.

METHODS: The study subjects comprised of interns who volunteered from the four dental colleges. The knowledge and attitude of interns were assessed using a 30-item questionnaire prepared based on the Basic Life Support Manual from American Heart Association and the anxiety of interns pertaining to BLS and medical emergencies were assessed using a State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Questionnaire. Chi-square test was performed on SPSS 21.0 (IBM Statistics, 2012) to determine statistically significant differences (P<0.05) between assessed knowledge and anxiety.

RESULTS: Out of 183 interns, 39.89% had below average knowledge. A total of 123 (67.21%) reported unavailability of professional training. The majority (180, 98.36%) felt the urgent need of training in basic life support procedures. Assessment of stress showed a total of 27.1% participants to be above high-stress level. Comparison of assessed knowledge and stress was found to be insignificant (P=0.983).

CONCLUSION: There was an evident lack of knowledge pertaining to the management of medical emergencies among the interns. As oral health care providers moving out to the society, a focus should be placed on the training of dental interns with respect to Basic Life Support procedures.

Key words: Basic life support, Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Dental interns, Medical emergencies, State-Trait anxiety inventory