Cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and attitude among general dentists in Kuwait

doi:10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2017.01.003

Abstract

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Dentists as health care providers should maintain a competence in resuscitation. This cannot be overemphasized by the fact that the population in our country is living longer with an increasing proportion of medically compromised persons in the general population. This preliminary study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of general dentists towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 250 licensed general dental practitioners working in ministry of health. Data were obtained through electronic self-administered questionnaire consisting of demographic data of general dentists, and their experience, attitude and knowledge about CPR based on the 2010 American Heart Association guidelines update for CPR.

RESULTS: Totally 208 general dentists took part in the present study giving a response rate of 83.2%. Only 36% of the participants demonstrated high knowledge on CPR, while 64% demonstrated low knowledge. Participants' age, gender, nationality, years of experience, career hierarchy, and formal CPR training were associated significantly with CPR knowledge. Almost all the participants (99%) felt that dentists needed to be competent in basic resuscitation skills and showed a positive attitude towards attending continuing dental educational programs on CPR.

CONCLUSION: This study showed that majority of general dental practitioners in Kuwait had inadequate knowledge on CPR. It was also found that CPR training significantly influenced the CPR knowledge of the participants. Therefore, training courses on CPR should be regularly provided to general dentists in the country.

Key words: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Knowledge, Attitude, General dentists

Sarah A. Alkandari, Lolwa Alyahya, Mohammed Abdulwahab. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and attitude among general dentists in Kuwait[J]. World Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2017, 8(1): 19-24.

Figures/Tables 5

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Figure 1.

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Table 4

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Demographic characteristics	Frequency	Percentage
Gender
Male	123	59.1
Female	85	40.9
Nationality
Kuwaiti	152	73.1
Non-Kuwaiti	56	26.9
Health district
Capital	41	19.7
Hawalli	54	26.0
Farwaniya	36	17.3
Jahra	30	14.4
Ahmadi/Mubarak Alkabeer	47	22.6
Years of clinical experience
0-5 years	110	52.9
6-10 years	63	30.3
>10 years	35	16.8
Career hierarchy
Assistant registrar	109	52.4
Registrar	66	31.7
Senior registrar	33	15.9

Parameters	Frequency	Percentage
Had formal training in CPR within the last 2 years
Yes	75	36.1
No	133	63.9
Feels competent to perform CPR correctly
Yes	119	57.2
No	89	42.8
Take/update patient's medical history prior to dental procedure
Yes	203	97.6
No	5	2.4
Have ever seen a patient suffering from cardiac arrest in his/her dental practice
Yes	9	4.3
No	199	95.7
Have ever needed to refer a patient to emergency room (ER) due to cardiac arrest
Yes	8	3.8
No	200	96.2
Have ever done mouth to mouth breathing
Yes	7	3.4
No	201	96.6
Willingness to perform mouth to mouth breathing without mask
Yes	40	19.2
No	168	80.8
Dentists need to be competent in CPR
Agree	206	99.0
Disagree	0	0.0
Don’t know	2	1.0
Attending continuing dental education program on CPR is important
Agree	206	99.0
Disagree	0	0.0
Don’t know	2	1.0

Questions	Correct answer^*	Positive response, n (%)	Negative response, n (%)
Cardiac arrest confirmed by	Absence of carotid pulse	104 (50.0)	104 (50.0)
CPR sequence	CAB	59 (28.4)	149 (71.6)
The location of chest compression for adult victim	Lower half of sternum	120 (57.7)	88 (42.3)
Opening the airway method	Head tilt chin lift	184 (88.5)	24 (11.5)
CPR ratio	30 compressions:2 breaths	78 (37.5)	130 (62.5)
Depth of chest compression for adult victim	At least 2 inches	58 (27.9)	150 (72.1)
Rate of chest compression for adult victim	At least 100	60 (28.8)	148 (71.2)
Performing CPR for child victim is different than that for adult victim	No	174 (83.7)	34 (16.3)

Parameters	CPR knowledge		χ²	P value
Parameters	High knowledge (n=75)	Low knowledge (n=133)	χ²	P value
Age
20-29 years	47 (43.9)	60 (56.1)	10.950	0.012
30-39 years	22 (34.9)	41 (65.1)
40-49 years	4 (26.7)	11 (73.3)
≥50 years	2 (8.7)	21 (91.3)
Gender
Male	36 (29.3)	87 (70.7)	6.018	0.014
Female	39 (45.9)	46 (54.1)
Nationality
Kuwaiti	62 (40.8)	90 (59.2)	5.483	0.019
Non-Kuwaiti	13 (23.2)	43 (76.8)
Health district
Capital	15 (36.6)	26 (63.4)	1.833	0.767
Hawalli	23 (42.6)	31 (57.4)
Farwaniya	13 (36.1)	23 (63.9)
Jahra	9 (30.0)	21 (70.0)
Ahmadi/Mubarak Alkabeer	15 (31.9)	32 (68.1)
Years of clinical experience
0-5 years	48 (43.6)	62 (56.4)	6.336	0.042
6-10 years	19 (30.2)	44 (69.8)
>10 years	8 (22.9)	27 (77.1)
Career hierarchy
Assistant registrar	56 (51.4)	53 (48.6)	7.473	0.024
Registrar	17 (25.8)	49 (74.2)
Senior registrar	2 (6.1)	31 (93.9)
Had formal training in CPR within the last 2 years
Yes	49 (65.3)	26 (34.7)	43.601	0.000
No	26 (19.5)	107 (80.5)

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