Evaluation of resuscitation knowledge and skills in dentists before and after a European Resuscitation Council CPR/AED course

Introduction: To investigate the level of knowledge of Greek dentists in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and of the use of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) before and after participating in a European Resuscitation Council (ERC) CPR/AED course. Materials and methods: A theoretical knowledge questionnaire consisting of multiple choice questions was completed by the participants at the beginning of the CPR/AED course. The participants were re-evaluated at the end of the course, while the evaluation procedure consisted of two distinct parts: a 10-min written test which preceded a simulated cardiac arrest scenario. Vasileios Schizogiannis DDS1, Athanasios Chalkias PhD1,2, Euaggelia Kouskouni PhD1, Nicoletta Iacovidou PhD2,3, Theodoros Xanthos PhD2,4 Results: The average performance of the participants in pre-course written test was satisfactory, while the dentists who had attended a CPR/AED course in the past achieved significantly higher initial performance in contrast to their colleagues (p=0.028). There was a statistically significant increase in post-course test score compared to pre-course test score (8.3±1.2 vs. 5.7±1.9, respectively; p<0.001). In addition, participation in a CPR/AED course had a positive effect on the participant’s skills, as their performance was excellent at the end of the course. Conclusions: Dentists’ resuscitation knowledge and skills were significantly improved after participating in ERC CPR/AED courses. ISSN 2466-2623 USTANOVA 1 National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Postgraduate Study Program (MSc) “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation”, Athens, Greece 2 Hellenic Society of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Athens, Greece 3 2nd Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Neonatal Division, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Athens, Greece 4 European University Cyprus, School of Medicine, Nicosia, Cyprus AUTOR ZA KORESPODENCIJU: Dr. Athanasios Chalkias, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Postgraduate Study Program (MSc) “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation”, 3 Ir. Politechniou Av. , 18532, Piraeus, Greece. Tel. : +302110121756; Fax: +302110121758, Email: thanoschalkias@yahoo.gr KLJUČNE REČI: cardiopulmonary resuscitation; automated external defibrillator; dentists DATUM PRIJEMA RADA 10. oktobar 2015. DATUM PRIHVATANJA RADA 20. oktobar 2015. DATUM OBJAVLJIVANJA 10. jun 2016. Introduction Cardiac arrest is a major cause of death worldwide (1-3). In the United States (USA), the referring frequency of occurrence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in individuals aged between 50 and 79 is 1.9/1000 per year (2). In Europe, the annual incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) for all rhythms is 38 per 100,000 population, while the annual incidence of ventricular fibrillation (VF) arrest is 17 per 100,000 (3). On initial heart rhythm analysis, about 25–30% of OHCA victims have VF, but when the rhythm is recorded, soon after collapse, the incidence can be as high as 59–65% (4,5). For every minute that defibrillation is delayed, survival from witnessed VF decreases by 10–12%, while survival to hospital discharge can be as high as 75%, if defibrillation is performed within 3 min of collapse (6-8). In a British study, cardiac arrest was extremely rare in dental practice with an incidence of 0.002 cases per dentist per year (9), while in Germany, it was estimated that one sudden cardiac arrest occurs per 638,960 patients in dental practice (10). Considering however that dentists today treat a growing number