Abstract
BackgroundEducating lay public can significantly strengthen the Chain of Survival after out of hospital cardiac arrest. Schoolchildren are an accessible population for learning basic life support (BLS) and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) and can be regarded as multipliers of knowledge that can reach the whole population. This study aimed to develop and validate a test for examining levels of knowledge about BLS and AED among schoolchildren that can be used to uniformly present reliable data.MethodsA knowledge test about BLS and AED consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions was developed and implemented before and after a 2-h BLS and AED course consisting of an interactive lecture and a practical workshop for 783 students in seventh and ninth grades of elementary schools in Maribor, Slovenia. Each question was analyzed and presented with descriptive statistics and educometric parameters (difficulty and discriminating indices). All variables were checked for normality with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and analyzed using non-parametric tests. Statistical significance of the differences in knowledge before and after intervention were calculated with chi-square statistics and effect sizes r are reported. Differences between genders, grades and previous attendance to BLS courses were compared using Mann – Whitney U test. The effect size was calculated from the Z score and reported as r value.ResultsAfter educometric analysis, questions were adjusted to meet the requirements of satisfactory functioning difficulty and discriminating indices (values between 0,40 and 0,60, and above 0,20, respectively). Only one question had to be eliminated due to inadequate difficulty and discriminating index (0,99 and 0,02, respectively). Measurement invariance across gender (p < 0,001), school grade (p < 0,001), and attendance to previous courses (p = 0,303) was assured.ConclusionsA test for accurate and reliable measurement of knowledge of BLS and AED among schoolchildren was developed and validated. According to the findings it can now reliably be used to assess baseline knowledge and potential improvement in knowledge after a course on BLS and AED. Standardized data gathered with a validated tool can now be presented at legislative levels to promote BLS and AED courses implementation in school curricula.
Highlights
Educating lay public can significantly strengthen the Chain of Survival after out of hospital cardiac arrest
The first three links of the Chain of Survival need to be strengthened by raising awareness about cardiac arrest in the community and demonstrating to the lay public the importance of early recognition, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED)
Description of the course The course was organized by the Center for Emergency Medicine of the Maribor Health Center in cooperation with the City of Maribor Municipality, which financed the courses for all of 20 interested public elementary schools in the Municipality of Maribor
Summary
Educating lay public can significantly strengthen the Chain of Survival after out of hospital cardiac arrest. The first three links of the Chain of Survival need to be strengthened by raising awareness about cardiac arrest in the community and demonstrating to the lay public the importance of early recognition, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). Individual regions and schools in Slovenia do partake in voluntary BLS courses offered by the National Institute for Public Health or other regional organizations. Through such agreement such courses become part of the compulsory out of the schoolcurricula, so providers of the course do not need to deal with formalities such as written consents of the parents, incorporation in school schedules etc
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