The importance of elderly people knowing basic frst-aid measures
Dublin Core
Title
The importance of elderly people knowing basic frst-aid measures
Subject
First aid, Elderly, Hypoglycaemia, Stroke, Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
Description
Background: In the event of a sudden illness or injury, elderly individuals are often dependent on self-help and
mutual assistance from partners. With poor access to medical services during natural and other disasters, the importance of frst aid knowledge of elderly individuals increases even more. We assessed the opinions of diferent generations of Slovenian population regarding the importance of knowing the basic frst aid measures. In addition, we
aimed to examine the knowledge of frst aid in the most common emergencies that threaten elderly people’s health
and lives, focusing on the knowledge of elderly.
Methods: A structured questionnaire was conducted with a representative Slovenian adult population (n=1079).
Statistically signifcant diferences in average ratings of the importance of frst aid knowledge were compared among
diferent age groups with one-way ANOVA followed by a post hoc test. Signifcant diferences in percentages of correct answers in particular cases of health conditions between diferent age groups were determined using the χ 2 test
followed by post hoc tests.
Results: Slovenes are well aware of the importance of frst aid knowledge and feel personally responsible for
acquiring this knowledge. The general opinion is that older retirees need less frst aid knowledge than individuals in
younger populations. We found a high level of knowledge about symptoms and frst aid measures for some of the
most common health conditions that occur in old age. The level of knowledge in the group of the oldest respondents
was comparable with that of younger age groups. However, their recognition of health conditions was also somewhat
worse, especially when recognising the symptoms and signs of hypoglycaemia and heart attack. Most of the tested
knowledge did not depend on a person’s age but on the time since that person was last educated in frst aid.
Conclusions: The knowledge of people older than 80 years is somewhat poorer than that in the younger population, mainly because too much time has passed since they were last educated in frst aid. Public awareness of frst aid
needs to be increased and appropriate guidelines should be given with a focus on the elderly population
mutual assistance from partners. With poor access to medical services during natural and other disasters, the importance of frst aid knowledge of elderly individuals increases even more. We assessed the opinions of diferent generations of Slovenian population regarding the importance of knowing the basic frst aid measures. In addition, we
aimed to examine the knowledge of frst aid in the most common emergencies that threaten elderly people’s health
and lives, focusing on the knowledge of elderly.
Methods: A structured questionnaire was conducted with a representative Slovenian adult population (n=1079).
Statistically signifcant diferences in average ratings of the importance of frst aid knowledge were compared among
diferent age groups with one-way ANOVA followed by a post hoc test. Signifcant diferences in percentages of correct answers in particular cases of health conditions between diferent age groups were determined using the χ 2 test
followed by post hoc tests.
Results: Slovenes are well aware of the importance of frst aid knowledge and feel personally responsible for
acquiring this knowledge. The general opinion is that older retirees need less frst aid knowledge than individuals in
younger populations. We found a high level of knowledge about symptoms and frst aid measures for some of the
most common health conditions that occur in old age. The level of knowledge in the group of the oldest respondents
was comparable with that of younger age groups. However, their recognition of health conditions was also somewhat
worse, especially when recognising the symptoms and signs of hypoglycaemia and heart attack. Most of the tested
knowledge did not depend on a person’s age but on the time since that person was last educated in frst aid.
Conclusions: The knowledge of people older than 80 years is somewhat poorer than that in the younger population, mainly because too much time has passed since they were last educated in frst aid. Public awareness of frst aid
needs to be increased and appropriate guidelines should be given with a focus on the elderly population
Creator
Eva Dolenc Šparovec , Damjan Slabe, Ivan Eržen and Uroš Kovačič
Publisher
BMC Emergency Medicine
Date
(2022) 22:128
Contributor
Fajar bagus W
Format
PDF
Language
English
Type
Text
Files
Collection
Citation
Eva Dolenc Šparovec , Damjan Slabe, Ivan Eržen and Uroš Kovačič, “The importance of elderly people knowing basic frst-aid measures,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed November 21, 2024, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/4239.