Exploring the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour of the general public to responding to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
A key aim in Scotland’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy is to increase rates of bystander CPR after a Cardiac Arrest (OHCA). This report is a collaborative project between the Resuscitation Research Group, The Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling and the Scottish Government. We present the results of a Scottish opinion survey responding to OHCA carried out in August 2015.
We found that over half (52%) of adults in Scotland (over 16 years old) are trained in CPR, but knowledge, experience, and attitudes towards bystander CPR are differentiated according to socio-economic factors. CPR training was more common amongst younger people; those in professional, managerial and non-manual occupations; and those in employment. Indeed most people who had been trained were CPR trained as a requirement of their employment or they were offered it through their employment or voluntary work. This study will inform Scotland’s OHCA Strategy and help create a social marketing strategy and health behaviour change activities.