Introduction: Early access to Emergency Medical Services determines survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, a significant proportion of adults do not know the emergency phone number (EN) and no intervention has been proposed to improve it. Therefore, we aimed to assess prospectively the effectiveness of single advice from a physician on knowledge of the EN in adult population.
Materials and methods: The study was conducted among participants of "Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe" study. A total of 942 persons (aged 48-82 years) randomly selected from an urban population registry were interviewed and then instructed about the correct EN (the intervention group). After 12 months knowledge of the EN was assessed in the intervention group (n=716) and in matched control group (n=435).
Results: The correct EN was given by 498 (69.6%) participants at baseline and in 550 (76.8%) participants 12 months afterwards (p<0.001). At follow-up the knowledge of EN was higher by in intervention group than in controls (76.8% vs 70.6%, p=0.02). Factors associated with better educational effect were male sex (OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.04-2.1) and secondary or higher level of education (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.08-1.91).
Conclusions: We concluded that a single instruction about the EN from a physician increases its long-term knowledge and should be offered during medical visits.