ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the general knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the attitudes and willingness of massive open online course (MOOC) students to perform CPR. Methods A questionnaire survey was carried out among 1212 MOOC students who participated in CPR training courses in July 2017. Data were obtained through electronic self-administered questionnaire consisting of individual information, knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of CPR, willingness to perform CPR in emergency scenarios, and changes in self-confidence before and after the CPR training courses. Results Totally 1092 questionnaires were qualified with a response rate of 90.1％. 97.2％ of the respondents understood the meaning of CPR, 83.2％ were willing to disseminate the first-aid knowledge, and 55.2％ had previous CPR training. When confronted with cardiac arrest in emergency scenarios, MOOC students were more likely to perform chest compressions (CC) than CC+mouth-to-mouth ventilation (MMV) (P<0.01). The willingness to implement CC+MMV is significantly stronger for family members than strangers (P<0.01). Furthermore, the barriers of performing CC+MMV were lack of confidence (33.8％), fear of disease transmission (29.5％), and fear of harming the victim (28.4％). Self-confidence in the implementation of CPR in emergency scenarios improved a lot compared with no experience of participating in CPR training (P<0.01). Conclusions MOOC students have a positive attitude toward CPR. Lack of confidence is the strongest hindrance to attempt CPR. MOOC training on CPR enhance the general public's self-confidence in the implementation of CPR.