Evidence of the Practice of Self-Medication with Antibiotics among the Lay Public in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The current scoping review is an attempt to explore the key reasons, determinants, patterns and prevalence related to self-medication with antibiotics (SMA) among the lay public. An online search was conducted using Google Scholar, Science Direct, ProQuest and PubMed. A two-phase mapping approach was used. In the first phase, studies were screened. In the second phase, the data were extracted from selected studies followed by the assessment of data quality. A total of 24 studies were included; 20 were cross-sectional, 3 were qualitative and one was observational. The most common indications were flu, cough, common colds, sore throat, diarrhea, toothache and fever. The most common determinants reported were past good experience and suggestions from friends or relatives. The use of SMA was observed to be more frequent in younger aged individuals belonging to low- or middle-income groups. The prevalence rate was reported to be high among the South Asian lay public and may be a major contributor to antibiotic resistance. In conclusion, this scoping review identifies a need for education campaigns and mass media campaigns to strengthen lay public awareness about the side effects and risks associated with SMA. In addition to this, there is a need to implement strict policies by government agencies to restrict over the counter availability of antibiotics.

Self-Medication with Antibiotics for Protection against COVID-19: The Role of Psychological Distress, Knowledge of, and Experiences with Antibiotics

“…Several other factors were also associated with taking antibiotics for preventative purposes and were largely consistent with those that have been identified as key determinants of self-medication with antibiotics in previous studies [11,15,31,32,34,35]. First, a lack of knowledge about antibiotics was shown to be quite common among the Australian public, and in some instances, this lack of knowledge was significantly associated with taking antibiotics for COVID-19.…”

“…Tackling AMR has become an urgent priority for policy makers globally [14]. Research so far has suggested that self-medication with antibiotics is often caused by a lack of knowledge about antibiotics, widespread availability of antibiotic medications due to absence of government regulations and enforcement, and incorrect practices such as not completing the full treatment course and keeping the remaining antibiotic medications [15][16][17][18]. These insights have informed the design of campaign strategies globally in managing antibiotic misuse, wherein the focus is on education and dissemination of knowledge [19][20][21][22].…”

Evidence of Antibiotic Resistance from Population-Based Studies: A Narrative Review

“…A recent scoping review highlighted the self-medication of antibiotics to be highly prevalent among individuals living in low- and middle-income countries. 45 Such medications are often connected with improper use as fever, upper respiratory tract infection, common cold and sore throat. Information about antibiotics were mainly provided by pharmacists or a family member.…”

Prevalence and Traits of Mobile Colistin Resistance Gene Harbouring Isolates from Different Ecosystems in Africa

“…Colistin (COL) is one of the few last-line antibiotics used in treating deadly infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Gram-negative bacilli (GNB). The unrestricted use of antibiotics in human medicine, especially in form of self-medication that is predominant in low and middle-income countries, is a major cause of development of antimicrobial drug resistance [ 1 ]. The use of COL in humans was largely abandoned in the 1970s due to its neurotoxic and nephrotoxic effects alongside to the discovery and approval of new and effective antibiotics [ 2 ], but COL has been used in livestock for more than six decades in most countries in the world, including Africa [ 3 – 5 ].…”