Aging augments unwllingness to the initial three links in chains of survival

Introduction

The purpose of the study was to clarify the influence of aging on attitudes toward the initial three links in chains of survival.

Methods

We gave questionnaires to attendants of compulsory programs for basic life support (BLS) or driving technique at the beginning in authorized driving schools. The questionnaires included their backgrounds. We studied their willingness in four hypothetical scenarios related to the initial three links: early emergency call, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) under one's own initiative, telephone-assisted chest compression and use of AED. The respondents were divided into young (17 to 29 years, n = 6,122), middle-aged (29 to 59 years, n = 827), older person (>59 years, n = 15,743) groups.

Results

There were significant differences in gender, occupation, residential area and experience of BLS training, and knowledge of AED use between the three groups. The proportions of respondents who are willing to perform the desirable BLS actions were lowest in the older person group (Table 1). Multiple logistic regression analysis confirmed that aging is one of the independent factors relating to negative attitude in all the scenarios. Gender, occupation, resident area, experience of BLS training, and knowledge for AED use were other independent factors relating to negative attitude to some of the scenarios.

Table 1 Difference among the three age groups in the proportion of respondents who are willing to perform the desirable BLS actions

Conclusions

The aged population is more negative to the chain of survival. More are willing to follow the telephone-assisted direction for chest compression. The BLS training should be modified for them to gain confidence and to be aware of the significance and benefit of early call.