Motivating people to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation and use of automated external defibrillators.
The purpose of this study was to test the effect of a motivational message on the intention of laypersons to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) use. A pretest-posttest, double-blind, randomized design was used with 220 community-dwelling adults. Participants were randomly assigned to the treatment group reading the CPR and AED pamphlet emphasizing learning CPR and AED use to save someone they love and the 3-minute window for response time; or to the comparison group reading the identical pamphlet without the 2 motivational statements. Intention to learn CPR and AED use and to look for AEDs in public areas was measured before and after reading the respective pamphlet. No significant difference emerged between the groups for the number of participants planning to learn CPR and AED use. A significant number of participants in both groups increased intention to learn CPR and AED use. Significantly more treatment participants than comparison participants planned to routinely look for AEDs in public areas after reading the pamphlet, however. Teaching critical facts such as the low survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest might encourage laypersons to learn CPR and AED use. Routinely teaching family members of people at risk for a cardiac arrest about the short window of time in which CPR and AED use must begin and encouraging them to learn about CPR and AEDs to save someone they love may encourage family members to identify the location of AEDs in public places.
School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-2026, USA. deborah.mcdonald@uconn.edu
Deborah Dillon
DD
McDonald
Deborah
D
Martin
Diane
D
Foley
Lee
L
Baker
Deborah
D
Hintz
Lauren
L
Faure
Nancy
N
Erman
Jessica
J
Palozie
Kathleen
K
Lundquist
Kara
K
O'Brien
Laura
L
Prior
Narra
N
Songco
Gwyn
G
Muscillo
Denise
D
Graziani
Michael
M
Tomczyk
Sheryl
S
Price
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000193:education / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000523:psychology; D032882:Comprehension; D047548:Defibrillators / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010174:Pamphlets; D013664:Teaching Materials / Q000592:standards; D013997:Time Factors