Effect of basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation training on the knowledge and attitudes of professional football players and coaches.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the change in attitudes and knowledge about basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation in football professionals following a training intervention and to examine its correlation with sociodemographic variables.

METHOD

The study consists of two phases. The first phase involves an observational cross-sectional study to assess the level of attitude and knowledge in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The second phase includes an educational intervention consisting of a training and practical session on basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation, with a pre-post single-group study. The questionnaire was completed by football professionals from the Spanish first division and their coaches, with  = 206 in the first phase and  = 70, 30 days after the training intervention in the second phase. A possible limitation is that the final sample size is smaller than the initial one; however, it still exceeds the estimated minimum. A two-phase statistical analysis was conducted: a cross-sectional analysis using nonparametric tests (Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman) assessed baseline attitude and knowledge in relation to sociodemographic variables, followed by a pre-post intervention analysis using parametric (-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson) or nonparametric tests depending on data distribution to evaluate intra- and inter-group changes. Normality was tested with the Shapiro-Wilk test and appropriate tests were applied accordingly.

RESULTS

There is a significant increase ( < 0.001) in the average attitude of participants between before (4.25 ± 0.39) and after (4.40 ± 0.41) the intervention. Knowledge also shows a significant increase ( < 0.001) between before (5.66 ± 1.92) and after (7.60 ± 1.84) the intervention. There is no significant correlation with age, gender, professional category, or levels of knowledge and attitudes.

CONCLUSIONS

The basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation training intervention has proven beneficial, regardless of gender, educational level, or category studied (players/coaches).