Fears Related to Blood-Injection-Injury Inhibit Bystanders from Giving First Aid.

Introduction: Prehospital emergency care is vital for saving lives, and increasing bystander involvement can improve survival and recovery. One potential barrier to providing first aid is blood-injury injection (BII) phobia, which affects up to 20% of people, with 3-5% experiencing severe fear. Identifying such barriers may help tailor interventions to encourage willingness to provide first aid.

Methods: We developed and validated the Probability of Giving First-aid Scale (PGFAS), a six-item questionnaire, using the polytomous Rasch Model to assess reliability and validity. The PGFAS was then used to examine how anxiety and disgust-sensitivity related to BII phobia impact the likelihood of providing medical assistance.

Results: Fear of injections and blood draws (β = -0.0987), blood (β = -0.0897) and mutilation (β = -0.1205) significantly reduced the likelihood of giving first aid. However, fear of sharp objects, medical examinations, symptoms of illness, disgust sensitivity, and contamination fear did not have a significant effect.

Conclusion: The Probability of Giving First-aid Scale may serve as a screening tool to identify individuals less likely to provide first aid and could be useful in assessing first-aid training effectiveness. Our findings highlight the importance of preparing first-aid responders and incorporating activities that reinforce helper identity into training programs.