Effects of Age, Gender, School Class on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Skills of Nigerian Secondary School Students

Abstract

Background: The need for training of schoolchildren on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as potential bystander CPR providers is growing globally but Nigeria is still behind and lacks basic necessary data. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of age, gender and school class on CPR skills of Nigerian secondary school students.Methods: Using a pretest-posttest quasi experimental study design, 322 senior secondary school students recruited from four schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, South- South, Nigeria.  The cohort was assessed on CPR skills before CPR training, immediately after the training and six weeks later for CPR skills retention. Descriptive, parametric and non-parametric statistics were used to analyze the data with statistical significance set at P < .05.Results: The three null hypotheses were all accepted as both age, gender and school class were found not to statistically have any influence on the CPR skills of the participants (P > .05).Conclusion/Recommendation: If our current findings are confirmed after further research work, CPR training in our schools should be encouraged for incorporation into our schools’ curricula focusing on the senior secondary school students.

Keywords: Age, Gender, School Class, CPR Skills, Nigerian Schools