Public knowledge and attitudes towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Hong Kong: telephone survey.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the public's knowledge and attitudes about cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Hong Kong. DESIGN: Cross-sectional telephone survey. SETTING: Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS: Hong Kong residents aged 15 to 64 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The knowledge and attitudes towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation. RESULTS: Among the 1013 respondents, only 214 (21%) reported that they had received cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. The majority (72%) of these trained respondents had had their latest training more than 2 years earlier. The main reasons for not being involved in cardiopulmonary resuscitation training included lack of time or interest, and "not necessary". People with full-time jobs and higher levels of education were more likely to have such training. Respondents stating they had received cardiopulmonary resuscitation training were more willing to try it if needed at home (odds ratio=3.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.4-4.6; P<0.001) and on strangers in the street (4.3; 3.1-6.1; P<0.001) in case of emergencies. Overall cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge of the respondents was low (median=1, out of 8). Among all the respondents, only four of them (0.4%) answered all the questions correctly. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation was still poor among the public in Hong Kong and the percentage of population trained to perform it was also relatively low. Efforts are needed to promote educational activities and explore other approaches to skill reinforcement and refreshment. Besides, we suggest enacting laws to protect bystanders who offer cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and incorporation of relevant training course into secondary school and college curricula.

Postoperative pain management: study of patients' level of pain and satisfaction with health care providers' responsiveness to their reports of pain.

The present prospective survey was conducted in a 1200-bed hospital to examine postoperative patients' current pain intensity, most intense pain experienced, satisfaction with postoperative pain management, and differences regarding pain and satisfaction levels. All adult patients admitted to a hospital in Hong Kong for surgery, except those receiving local anesthesia, were eligible to enter this study. The patient outcome questionnaire developed by the American Pain Society was used to solicit data about patients' pain and satisfaction with pain relief. The subjects were 294 postoperative patients. Approximately 85% complained about varying degrees of pain during the 24 h prior to the assessment of their pain. When interviewed, most patients complained of mild to moderate pain (median = 2 on a 10-point scale), while the median for 'worst pain intensity' was 5. Approximately 80% of the subjects indicated that both the nurses and physicians reminded them to report pain when it occurred. Only 143 (48.6%) agreed that the nurses and physicians sufficiently emphasized the importance of pain relief. Those who received acute pain services, provided by anesthetists, reported lower levels of current pain intensity. Over 65% of the subjects were satisfied with all levels of health care providers, regarding their postoperative pain management.