Knowledge, Attitude and Awareness of Basic Life Support Among Health Sciences University Students

Abstract

Objective: Basic life support (BLS) refers to the skills that require no or few equipment to save cardiac or respiratory arrest patients and it is a skill that required by all healthcare providers including medical-based students in order to save the life-threatening victims. This study determined the level of knowledge, attitude and awareness of BLS among students at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Kuantan campus. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study with convenience sampling study was conducted among 167 students at IIUM Kuantan Campus, from November to December 2020. Data were gathered by using Google Forms which available in English Language and distributed to year 3, 4 and 5 students. The questionnaire was adapted from three sets questionnaires, which two sets questionnaires were from American Heart Association in 2015, and another set questionnaire from European Resuscitation Council (ERC) 2010 Resuscitation Guidelines. Results: The majority of the respondents have high awareness and positive attitude towards BLS but having below average score for knowledge on BLS. There is a significantly association between courses and previous exposure of BLS training with BLS knowledge (p<0.05). Age, courses and previous exposure of BLS training are significantly associated with awareness level of BLS (p<0.05). A significant association also observed between previous exposure of BLS training with positive attitude towards BLS training (p<0.05). Conclusion: Health sciences university students was concluded to having positive attitude and high awareness towards BLS training despite having below average level of BLS knowledge score. Therefore, the university may provide more BLS educational programs and even practical to the students to promote their knowledge and improve their skills on BLS.