Antibiotic Use and Antibiotic Resistance: Public Awareness Survey in the Republic of Cyprus

Abstract

We aimed to assess the knowledge and understanding of antibiotic use and resistance in the general population of Cyprus, in order to inform future antibiotic awareness campaigns with local evidence. Cross-sectional survey following the methodology of the “Antibiotic resistance: Multi-country public awareness survey” of the World Health Organization, during December 2019–January 2020. A total of 614 respondents participated: 64.3% were female and most were aged 35–44 years (33.2%) or 25–34 years (31.8%). One-third had used antibiotics >1 year ago and 91.6% reported receiving advice on appropriate use from a medical professional. Despite high awareness on correct use of antibiotics, lack of knowledge was noted for specific indications, where approximately one-third believed that viral infections respond to antibiotics and 70.7% lack understanding of how antibiotic resistance develops. Higher education graduates exhibited significantly higher knowledge rates. As high as 72.3% were informed about “antibiotic resistant bacteria” from healthcare professionals or social media. Most agreed on the usefulness of most suggested actions to address antibiotic resistance, with higher proportions acknowledging the role of prescribers. Up to 47% could not identify their role in decreasing antibiotic resistance. Our study provides local evidence to inform future efforts in a country characterized by high antibiotic consumption rates.

The Internet: Friend or Foe of Antibiotic Resistance? Results of a Cross-Sectional Study among Italian University Students

“…From the ordinal logistic regression analysis, the main determinants of knowledge about antibiotics were age and majors, and suggests that, if there are limited resources, educational programs on antibiotics should be targeted at younger students from programs that are non-life sciences based. The finding that respondents from the medical or life sciences majors had significantly better knowledge than students from the other courses is in line with previous studies [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. As expected, those students had more exposure to scientific knowledge related to antibiotics and ABR compared with students from other majors.…”

The Associations between Poor Antibiotic and Antimicrobial Resistance Knowledge and Inappropriate Antibiotic Use in the General Population Are Modified by Age

“…More than half (64%) had the misconception that antibiotics are effective against viral infections; 32% believed that they should stop their prescribed course of antibiotics when they feel better, and 76% mistakenly thought that AMR is due to the human body, instead of bacteria, becoming resistant to antibiotics [ 6 ]. Several other studies reported similar observations due to poor antibiotic and AMR knowledge among the general public [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Population-based educational campaigns, however, have been found to have either mixed or no effect on improving knowledge and appropriate antibiotic practices, suggesting a need for more targeted approaches in tailoring education for specific sub-populations [ 16 , 17 ].…”

Assessing the Effects of Basic Medical Science Courses on the Knowledge and Attitude towards Antibiotic Usage among Pre-Professional Students in Saudi Arabia

“…Nonetheless, Riyadh PPS had better knowledge about the completion of the antibiotic course. This could be attributed to the notion that big cities’ population dwellings are more aware of such issues [ 30 , 31 ].…”