Demographic Factors and Bystander CPR in Nigerian Athletes

Background/Aim: There is limited research on bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (bystander CPR) involving athletes globally and in the Nigerian context specifically. The impact of age and gender of individuals on the knowledge of bystander CPR and attitude towards it is variable. This study aimed at assessing the associations of age, gender and years of experience as athletes with knowledge and attitude towards bystander CPR.

Methods: A national cross sectional study of Nigerian athletes covering 25 different sports was carried out. Four hundred and nineteen (419) athletes comprising 278 (66.3%) males and 141(33.7%) females with age range of 11- 49 years and mean age of 23.43 + 5.66 (SD) filled and returned the questionnaire that tested the associations of the participants’ age, gender and years of experience as athletes with their knowledge of bystander CPR and their attitude towards this life-saving procedure. In addition to descriptive statistics, the associations of their age, gender and years of experience as athletes with their bystander CPR knowledge and attitude were tested using the analysis of variance (ANOVA), while the significance level was set P < .05.

Results: Age of the athletes did not have any statistically significant associations with their bystander CPR knowledge and attitude towards it (P > .05). Male or female gender did not give any statistically significant associations with their knowledge of and attitude towards bystander CPR (P > .05), as well as their years of experience as athletes with bystander CPR knowledge and attitude towards the procedure (P > .05).

Conclusion: Neither age, gender nor years of experience as athletes of the participants gave any statistically significant associations with their bystander CPR knowledge and attitude towards this life-saving procedure.