Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Among Clinical-Year Medical Students At SPHMMC: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Cardiac arrest is a major global health issue and a leading cause of preventable death. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a critical life-saving skill for medical professionals. Prompt initiation of CPR significantly increases survival rates. (1) Clinical-year medical students are often present during emergencies and are expected to initiate CPR; however, studies about knowledge, attitude and practice among them are unavailable. Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding CPR among clinical-year medical students at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 196 clinical-year medical students at SPHMMC. Stratified random sampling was used to ensure proportional representation. Data were collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire adapted from the 2020 American Heart Association (AHA) CPR guidelines and the National Health Care Provider Solutions (NHCPS) BLS practice test. Knowledge consisted of 13 items, attitude of 5 items (score range 3–15), and practice of 10 items. Knowledge and practice were categorized using an 80% cutoff, while attitude was classified using an 80% cutoff of the total attitude score. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics were computed. Chi-square test was used to assess associations. Statistical significance was declared at p < 0.05. Ethical clearance was obtained from the SPHMMC IRB Results: The mean age of participants was 23.57 ± 1.96 years. Only 16 respondents (8.2%) demonstrated adequate knowledge of CPR, while 180 (91.8%) had inadequate knowledge. Additionally, 147 students (75.0%) had poor CPR practice, whereas only 49 (25.0%) demonstrated good practice, despite a highly favorable attitude observed in 192 (98.0%) participants. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice levels varied across academic years, with knowledge and practice improving with increasing academic year; however, even among interns, only 12.3% demonstrated adequate knowledge and 17.5% demonstrated good practice. CPR training exposure (p = 0.027, p < 0.001) and ICU experience (p = 0.071, p = 0.012) showed significant associations with knowledge and CPR practice. Students who had CPR training were significantly more likely to have good practice compared to those without training. Conclusion: Although clinical-year medical students demonstrated a highly favorable attitude toward CPR, only a small proportion achieved adequate knowledge (8.2%) and good practice (25.0%), with deficiencies observed across all academic levels. While competence improved with increasing clinical seniority, it remained suboptimal even among interns. CPR training and ICU exposure were significantly associated with better performance, highlighting a critical gap between theoretical awareness and practical competence. Keywords: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Clinical medical students, Ethiopia