Assessment of Basic Life Support Knowledge among Dental Surgeons: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the knowledge and aptitude of dental surgeons regarding Basic life support in case of medical emergencies. Objective: To evaluate knowledge of BLS among dental surgeons and to see if they have adequate training to tackle medical emergencies on a dental chair. Methods: A structured pre validated questionnaire based study was conducted among dentists working in teaching hospitals of Islamabad. Participants were asked to fill in a Performa which consisted of 17 questions.  A score of 1 was given in case of correct answer and 0 in case of incorrect response to all the participants. The data analysis was done using SPSS (23.0) and ANOVA test applied to the variables. Results: Age and Years of experience showed considerable difference of the knowledge with a p value of <0.05.The highest score recorded was only 14 by only 1 of the participants (0.3%). 68 out of 370 participants (almost 18.4%) scored 7 out of 17. The most correct question with 65% of positive rate was management of patient undergoing syncope on a dental chair. Out of all the 370 participants, less than 50% knowledge in 290 participants and greater than 50% knowledge was found in only 80 participants. Conclusions:  This study showed limited knowledge of BLS amid practicing dental surgeons henceforth the dire need for continuous training on BLS.