ADULT BASIC LIFE SUPPORT (BLS) AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE AMONG MEDICAL AND DENTAL INTERNS COMPLETING INTERNSHIP FROM DEEMED UNIVERSITY

Abstract

AbstractThe present study was aimed to assess the awareness, knowledge, and attitude towards basic life support (BLS) among the interns completing their internship from both medical and dental streams of the Nitte university (a deemed university at Mangalore, Karnataka) and also to identify the areas to be addressed for improving the standards of BLS among the interns at their crucial juncture of moving out to the community, society as health care providers.A descriptive study was conducted by using a Questionnaire comprising of 19 questions to collect the data pertaining to demographic details, awareness and knowledge of BLS, attitude towards BLS among all the medical and dental interns completing their internship during March 2012. The study was conducted in the last week of their one year internship programme.After excluding the incomplete response sheets which were none in the present study, the data from 162 interns were subjected to the analysis. The Main outcome measure was the over all score in the BLS knowledge. Knowledge of BLS was assessed as per the data contained in the Basic life support manual from American Heart Association.The results were drawn based on the comparisons between Medical and Dental streams and also with in each stream. Out of 162 interns, 84 were medical interns and 78 were dental interns. All of them (100%) were aware of the BLS and its usefulness. 16 (19%) medical interns had complete knowledge of BLS while none (0%) among dental interns had complete knowledge of BLS. A score of less than 50% was evident in 37(44%) of medical interns and 69(88%) of dental interns thus indicating a poor knowledge of BLS among both medical and dental interns who were completing their internship. However medical interns scored better in comparison to dental interns. Resuscitation experience (performing BLS) and Training (attending BLS work shop) resulted in better BLS knowledge and better scoring pattern among the medical interns thus boosting the confidence among interns. (Statistically significant with P < 0.05).Present study highlights the need for a structured training of BLS and inclusion of BLS in the Medical and Dental academic curriculum.