Attitudes among healthcare professionals towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation during COVID-19.

Publisher: W B Saunders Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8309942 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1532-8171 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 07356757 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Emerg Med Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 1983- : Philadelphia, PA : W B Saunders
Original Publication: [Philadelphia, PA. : Centrum Philadelphia, c1983]-

Attitude of Health Personnel* ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation* ; Emergency Medical Services* ; Pandemics*; COVID-19/*epidemiology ; Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest/*therapy; Adult ; COVID-19/transmission ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Fear ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Motivation ; Personal Protective Equipment ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Saudi Arabia/epidemiology ; United States/epidemiology

Background: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) are a leading cause of mortality in the United States. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the landscape of response to OHCAs, particularly with regard to providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We aimed to describe, characterize, and address the attitudes and concerns of healthcare workers towards CPR of OHCA patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of healthcare workers and trainees in the United States and Saudi Arabia via an online survey available between October 2020, and May 2021. The primary outcome of interest was willingness to perform CPR for OHCA, with confidence to handle CPR for OHCA as our secondary outcome.
Results: A total of 501 healthcare professionals, including 436 (87%) with background in emergency medicine, participated in our survey. 331 (66%) reported being willing to perform CPR for OHCA, while 170 (34%) were not willing. 311 (94%) willing participants stated that their medical oath and moral responsibility were the main motivators for willingness, while a fear of contracting COVID-19 was the primary demotivating factor for 126 (74%) unwilling participants. Time series analysis with simple exponential smoothing showed an increase in willingness to perform CPR from 30% to 50%, as well as an increase in mean confidence level to perform CPR from 60% to 70%, between October 2020 and May 2021.
Conclusions: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected healthcare workers' attitudes towards performing CPR for OHCA. Confidence levels and willingness to perform CPR increased over time during the study period. Efforts should be directed towards the creation of standardized and evidence-based guidelines for CPR during COVID-19, as well as increasing knowledge regarding risks of infection and effective use of PPE during resuscitation.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors do not have a financial interest or relationship to disclose regarding this research project.
(Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

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Keywords: COVID-19; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; OHCA; Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Date Created: 20211203 Date Completed: 20220126 Latest Revision: 20221221

20221221

PMC8591860

10.1016/j.ajem.2021.11.017

34861518