scholarly journals Understanding of antibiotic use and resistance among final-year pharmacy and medical students: a pilot study

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (06) ◽  
pp. 780-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shazia Qasim Jamshed ◽  
Ramadan Elkalmi ◽  
Kingston Rajiah ◽  
Abdul Kareem Al-Shami ◽  
Siti Hadijah Shamsudin ◽  
...  

Introduction: This study is aimed to investigate the understanding of antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance and its correlate factors among final-year medical and pharmacy students at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study. The study instrument was developed by extensive literature search and was subjected to face validity and content validity to medical and pharmacy academics. A pilot study was conducted to ascertain the reliability coefficient. Data was entered to SPSS version 17 and descriptive and inferential statistics were applied. Results: A total of 123 questionnaires were included in the study. Out of 123 respondents, 58.5% (n = 72) were final-year medical students, while 41.5% (n = 51) were final-year pharmacy students. The majority of the respondents showed adequate knowledge regarding the course contents related to antibiotics (n = 116; 94.3%). Almost all the respondents correctly reported the difference between bactericidal and bacteriostatic antibiotics. Only 15.4% (n = 19) and 27.6% (n = 34) of students were able to recognize Streptococcus pyogenes as non-pencillin resistant bacterium and Enterococcus as vancomycin-resistant bacterium, respectively. Conclusions: The students showed good understanding regarding antibiotic resistance. In comparison to medical students, pharmacy students showed better understanding and more adequate knowledge, as the mean value for each domain was slightly higher for pharmacy students. Extensively improving the curriculum and educating healthcare professionals, especially physicians and pharmacists, right from the time of their educational training can inculcate a moral responsibility toward the judicious use of antibiotics, which can serve to eradicate antibiotic resistance.

Author(s):  
Bhavika D. ◽  
A. Naga Teja Pavani ◽  
G. Meghavani ◽  
Aditya Jillella ◽  
Sameer Uz Zaman

Background: Antibiotic resistance has emerged as a serious global problem. Irrational prescribing of antibiotics is one of the key factors responsible for the development of antibiotic resistance. As today’s medical students will be the future prescribers their awareness regarding antibiotic resistance and rational prescribing of antibiotics is very much important. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices of the medical students towards antibiotic use.Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted involving the medical students from all the semesters. A predesigned questionnaire was used to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices of the respondents. The response options were ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for some questions, and a 5 point Likert scale used to assess some questions. The data was analyzed using MS office Excel.Results: A total of 457 fully completed questionnaires from the respondents were evaluated. Majority of the respondents (70%) were females, and 91% of the respondents were aware of antibiotic resistance as a global problem. On analysis of score of questions assessing knowledge, 91% of respondents had attained a score in the range of 5-7. Majority (83%) of the respondents used antibiotics only on doctor’s prescription and 74% of the respondents had completed the prescribed course.Conclusions: The present study gives an insight on the knowledge, attitude and practices of medical students on antibiotic use, and can be used as a tool to plan educational strategies to improve the knowledge of the students regarding rational use of antibiotics.


Author(s):  
Swathi Ratnam Regidi ◽  
Billa S. B. Mallika

Background: Examining the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of the medical students regarding antibiotic resistance (ABR) and use can help us in devising suitable educational interventions for them, tailored according to their earlier held knowledge, beliefs, capabilities and experience.Methods: A cross sectional, questionnaire based survey was conducted among medical students of a teaching hospital, whereby their KAP regarding antibiotic use and resistance was assessed by using a questionnaire, whose responses ranged from ‘agree’ to ‘disagree,’ ‘always to never’ and true / false. The data was analysed by using simple descriptive statistics. Wherever it was relevant, the Chi-square test was used to determine any significant difference.Results: The number of medical students who agreed that ABR was an important and a serious public health issue in this teaching hospital was 76 percent (n = 325). But, only 54.3% (n = 233) of the students were aware that bacteria were not responsible for causing cold and flu, while the remaining 37.2 percent (n = 22) were not knowledgeable about this fact. More than 80% rated the adverse effect profile of the antibiotic and the risk of a super infection as the important factors which deserved consideration. Cost of the antibiotic was considered to be an important factor deserving consideration by only 65.5% (n=277) of the participants.Conclusions: Our survey revealed that most of the students were aware of the antimicrobial resistance and its consequences. The only concern was their casual attitude regarding the antibiotic use. Further educational interventions are necessary to improve their understanding and perceptions on antibiotic resistance, as well as their attitude towards antibiotic use.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Khezar Hayat ◽  
Shazia Jamshed ◽  
Meagen Rosenthal ◽  
Noman Ul Haq ◽  
Jie Chang ◽  
...  

Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is a significant issue for public health globally. An adequate understanding of ABR and the approaches used to tackle ABR, including antibiotic stewardship programs, are vital. This study aimed to get an insight into antibiotic use, ABR, and antibiotic stewardship programs among pharmacy students of Punjab, Pakistan. This multicenter study was undertaken among final (fifth) year undergraduate pharmacy students of 7 universities of Punjab, Pakistan. A paper-based self-administered questionnaire comprising 48-items was utilized for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis. This study included a total of 296 respondents with a response rate of 85.8%. Most of the students had an average understanding of antibiotic use (59.8%), ABR (42.6%), ABR mechanisms (48.0%), and factors of ABR (51.7%). Only 21.6% of students have heard about antibiotic stewardship programs. More than half of the students believed that educating and training healthcare professionals (53.4%) and medical students (57.8%) about the prescribing and judicial usage of antibiotics could reduce the ABR burden. The awareness of most of the pharmacy students about certain aspects of antibiotic use, ABR, and stewardship programs was suboptimal.


Author(s):  
Rajiv Kumar Gupta ◽  
Parveen Singh ◽  
Renu Rani ◽  
Rashmi Kumari ◽  
Bhavna Langer ◽  
...  

Background: The growing concern about antibiotic resistance, of late, led World Health Organization to declare it as World Health Day theme in 2011. Knowledge spreads awareness and understanding by melting the barriers of ignorance while attitudes and practices have a bearing on the health related behaviour. The present study aims at evaluating the knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical students towards antibiotic usage.Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among the Pre-final medical students (6th / 7th semester) who participated in the questionnaire survey on knowledge, attitude and practice towards antibiotics usage. The data was analysed and Chi-square was used as test of significance.Results: Overall, 132 students were interviewed. Majority (96.2%) had heard of antibiotic resistance. About 22% of the sample stated that antibiotics can cure viral infections, among them female being in the higher proportion (p<0.05). Majority (>90%) agreed that antibiotic resistance is a serious problem and had positive attitude about population awareness campaign regarding antibiotic resistance. Among practices, higher proportion of male respondents preferred antibiotics in case of cough and sore throat. (p<0.05).Conclusions: Despite being Pre-final MBBS students, the results have revealed that knowledge and attitude of the respondents were not up to the desired levels. The practices regarding use of antibiotics were more or less adequate. For effective curriculum, thorough knowledge and rational prescription of antibiotics needs to be reinforced among medical students both before and during internship.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (212) ◽  
pp. 740-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satish Kumar Deo ◽  
Sita Rijal ◽  
Sita Devi Kunwar ◽  
Anuja Dahal ◽  
Sujaya Gupta

Introduction: Self-medication among adolescents has become a serious global problem that plays an important role in irrational use of medication and tends to increase with the age of adolescents. Limited research has been done in Nepal regarding antibiotic knowledge among non-medical students. Hence, this study aims to assess the knowledge of higher secondary non-science students regarding antibiotic use, resistance and its consequences. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was done during antibiotic awareness week 2017 among 471 grade 11 and 12 non-science students of private schools in Kathmandu. Convenience sampling technique was used. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics was utilised to find out the knowledge level of the students. Results: The mean age of the students 245 (52%) male, 226 (48%) female) was 17.19 years and 335 (71.1%) were from grade 12. Approximately all 462 (98.1%) the participants had inadequate knowledge regarding antibiotic and their knowledge mean score was 5.8±2.56. More than half 277 (58.8%) of the students had not heard about antibiotic resistance, among those who have heard 113 (24%) said that doctor and nurses were the source of information. Conclusions: Almost all of the participating students lacked adequate knowledge regarding antibiotic. Thus, it is imperative to create school and community based awareness programs by policy makers for adolescents to upgrade their knowledge on safe use of antibiotics as well as to prevent the consequences of antibiotic resistance during their adult life.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Felipe Higuita-Gutiérrez ◽  
Gustavo Eduardo Roncancio Villamil ◽  
Judy Natalia Jiménez Quiceno

Abstract Background This study was designed to describe the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding antibiotic use and resistance among medical students in Medellín, Colombia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students from three universities from September to December 2018. The sample size was calculated, the classrooms were visited, and those students who were willing to participate were invited to do so. The data collection instrument was constructed in three stages: i) the literature was systematically reviewed, ii) the items from the studies identified were extracted, and iii) item reduction was performed with exploratory factor analysis. Data were analyzed by calculating absolute and relative frequencies and means for quantitative variables. The indexes of knowledge, attitude, and practice were transformed to a scale from 0 (worst possible score) to 100. Comparisons were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskall-Wallis H test, and linear regressions. Results Five hundred and thirty-two medical students were included with a response rate of 96%. Of the total participants, 49.1% reported having used antibiotics within the past year. Regarding knowledge, only 18.2% had heard of the term “antimicrobial stewardship” and 69.3% were aware that empiric antibiotic therapy contributes to antibiotic resistance. Regarding attitude, 11.6% considered that antibiotics should be discontinued as soon as symptoms disappear and 24.6% stated that it is better to prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics to ensure that the patient is cured. Regarding practice, 28.5% recognized that resistance is a multifactorial problem, but they do not act on it because they consider that individual actions would have little impact. The adjusted linear regression showed that the variables associated with knowledge, attitude, and practice were socioeconomic status, training cycle, university, previous experience of research or education, the general perception of the training received, and antibiotic consumption. Conclusion Knowledge, attitude, and practice differ widely depending on the university, training cycle, and socioeconomic status, and a significant proportion of students consider that the standard of training received at the university on antibiotics and bacterial resistance is poor or mediocre. These findings show that there is a need to strengthen the medical students’ curriculum on antibiotics, mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, and the prudent use of antibiotics as an important strategy to combat problem-resistant public health, primarily in endemic countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-73
Author(s):  
Nisha Jha ◽  
Sunil Shrestha ◽  
Pathiyil Ravi Shankar ◽  
Shital Bhandary

Background:Antibiotic resistance is a global crisis posing a considerable threat, especially, to developing countries and can cause 10 million deaths by 2050. Medical students as future doc­tors play an essential role in promoting the rational use of antibiotics. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the respondents’ knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) regarding an­tibiotic use, antibiotic self-medication, and antibiotic resistance and compare the KAP among different subgroups of respondents at KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among final year medical students and interns from Sep­tember to October 2019. A structured questionnaire with 22 statements for assessing knowledge, 13 statements for attitude and 12 statements for practice was used as a data collection tool. Differ­ences in the KAP scores among different subgroups were studied using appropriate statistical tests. Results: A total of 131 respondents participated, and 76(58%) were female. Most were from the Brahmin ethnic group 54(41.2%) while 82(62.6%) had relatives in the medical field. Ninety-three (71%) were final year medical students and 38(29%) were medical interns. The knowledge scores were high (76) among most subgroups of respondents. The attitude score was 58 out of 65 and prac­tice score was 6 out of 12. Knowledge scores were higher among female respondents, and practice scores were higher among interns (p=0.002). Conclusions: The study showed good knowledge and attitude regarding antibiotics among the final year medical students and the interns. Interns were found to have a better practice than the final year students for using antibiotics rationally.


Author(s):  
M. Tasdik Hasan ◽  
Sahadat Hossain ◽  
Rajat Das Gupta ◽  
Vivek Podder ◽  
Naima Afroz Mowri ◽  
...  

Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 858
Author(s):  
Reema A. Karasneh ◽  
Sayer I. Al-Azzam ◽  
Mera Ababneh ◽  
Ola Al-Azzeh ◽  
Ola B. Al-Batayneh ◽  
...  

More research is needed on the drivers of irrational antibiotic prescribing among healthcare professionals and to ensure effective prescribing and an adequate understanding of the issue of antibiotic resistance. This study aimed at evaluating prescribers’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors about antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. A cross-sectional study was conducted utilizing an online questionnaire and included physicians and dentists from all sectors in Jordan. A total of 613 prescribers were included (physicians n = 409, dentists n = 204). Respondents’ knowledge on effective use, unnecessary use or associated side effects of antibiotics was high (>90%), compared with their knowledge on the spread of antibiotic resistance (62.2%). For ease of access to the required guidelines on managing infections, and to materials that advise on prudent antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance, prescribers agreed in 62% and 46.1% of cases, respectively. 28.4% of respondents had prescribed antibiotics when they would have preferred not to do so more than once a day or more than once a week. Among respondents who prescribed antibiotics, 63.4% would never or rarely give out resources on prudent use of antibiotics for infections. The findings are of importance to inform antibiotic stewardships about relevant interventions aimed at changing prescribers’ behaviors and improving antibiotic prescribing practices.


2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 338-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clóvis Alexandrino-Silva ◽  
Maira Lazarini Guimarães Pereira ◽  
Carlos Bustamante ◽  
André Corrêa de Toledo Ferraz ◽  
Sergio Baldassin ◽  
...  

Objective: We aimed to assess the presence of suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms and symptoms of hopelessness in three healthcare training programs. Method: The study's population comprised all students enrolled at the Medical School of the Fundação do ABC, Brazil, from 2006 to 2007 compared to students enrolled in nursing and pharmacy programs. We applied the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Hopeless Scale to assess psychiatric symptomatology. The general response rates of the medical, nursing, and pharmacy students were 56%, 56% and 61%, respectively. Results: There was no difference regarding the presence of suicidal ideation among medical, nursing and pharmacy students. There was also no difference regarding the presence of either depression or hopelessness in medical students in comparison to nursing and pharmacy students. In comparison to nursing and pharmacy students, significantly higher severity rates in terms of hopelessness were observed only among medical students. Conclusion: Although we did not observe significant differences regarding suicidal ideation and depression among the three healthcare programs, our findings suggest that the presence of suicidal ideation is indeed a source of concern. Early identification of these symptoms is crucial in order to offer appropriate support and treatment and prevent deaths by suicide.


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