Ng Wei Leik, Abdullah Nurdiana
Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Singapore Med J. 2020 Feb;61(2):81-85. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2020016.
Medical emergencies occur at a rate of one in 604‒753 flights. Doctors travelling on commercial flights may encounter an in-flight medical emergency requiring their assistance. There is a paucity of studies on how confident primary care doctors are in managing in-flight medical emergencies. This study aimed to determine the knowledge, confidence and attitude of primary care doctors in managing in-flight medical emergencies.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on all primary care doctors working in government health clinics in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from October 2016 to November 2016. A self-reported questionnaire was used, which included questions on demographic information, knowledge of in-flight medicine, and the attitude and confidence of primary care doctors in managing in-flight medical emergencies.
182 doctors completed the questionnaire (92.9% response rate). The mean knowledge score was 8.9 out of a maximum score of 20. Only 11.5% of doctors felt confident managing in-flight medical emergencies. The majority (69.2%) would assist in an in-flight medical emergency, but the readiness to assist was reduced if someone else was already helping or if they were not familiar with the emergency. Total knowledge score was positively associated with confidence in managing in-flight medical emergencies (p = 0.03).
Only one in ten primary care doctors in this study felt confident managing in-flight medical emergencies. A higher total knowledge score of in-flight medical emergencies was positively associated with greater confidence in managing them. Educational programmes to address this gap in knowledge may be useful to improve doctors' confidence in managing in-flight medical emergencies.
医疗紧急情况在每604 - 753次航班中出现的概率为一次。乘坐商业航班出行的医生可能会遇到需要其协助的机上医疗紧急情况。关于基层医疗医生在处理机上医疗紧急情况时的信心程度，相关研究较少。本研究旨在确定基层医疗医生在处理机上医疗紧急情况方面的知识、信心和态度。
2016年10月至2016年11月，对马来西亚吉隆坡政府健康诊所工作的所有基层医疗医生进行了一项横断面研究。采用自填式问卷，其中包括关于人口统计学信息、机上医学知识以及基层医疗医生在处理机上医疗紧急情况时的态度和信心等问题。
182名医生完成了问卷（回复率为92.9%）。知识得分的平均分在满分20分中为8.9分。只有11.5%的医生对处理机上医疗紧急情况感到有信心。大多数（69.2%）医生会在机上医疗紧急情况中提供协助，但如果已经有其他人在帮忙或者他们不熟悉该紧急情况，提供协助的意愿就会降低。知识总分与处理机上医疗紧急情况的信心呈正相关（p = 0.03）。
在本研究中，每十名基层医疗医生中只有一名对处理机上医疗紧急情况感到有信心。机上医疗紧急情况的知识总分越高，处理这些情况时的信心就越大。针对这一知识差距开展教育项目可能有助于提高医生处理机上医疗紧急情况的信心。
