Knowledge, attitude, practice and associated factors towards Basic Life Support among health professionals at governmental hospitals in Afar Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: Basic life support (BLS) is a fundamental knowledge and skill that enables healthcare professionals and individuals to respond effectively in life-threatening emergency situations. The aim of this study was to evaluate healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitude, practice, and associated factors regarding BLS.
Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare professionals working in governmental hospitals in the Afar regional state of Ethiopia. Structured self-administrative questionnaires adapted from the American Heart Association guidelines were used for data collection. Epidata version 4.4.2.1 and SPSS version 23 were used for binary logistic regression with bivariate and multivariate statistical analysis to determine the significance level, 0.25 and 0.05, respectively.
Result: A total of 357 participants with a response rate of 89.2% concluded the study. In this study, 63.6%, 49.3%, and 72.8% of the study participants had poor knowledge, negative attitudes, and poor practice of BLS, respectively. Sex, age, professional type, clinical work experience, serving hospital unit, and lack of training on BLS were significantly associated with the knowledge status of respondents. Professional type, lack of training on BLS, and frequency of CPR performed previously remained significantly associated with health care providers' practice of BLS.
Conclusions: This study showed that healthcare providers had poor knowledge, a negative attitude, and poor practice on basic life support. Sex, age, educational level of HCP, professional type, clinical experience, ward currently giving service, and lack of training on BLS were the identified significant factors affecting healthcare providers' KAP.