Knowledge and Attitude Towards Antibiotic Usage Among General Public in Shah Alam, Malaysia

Abstract

The emergence of superbugs and antibiotic resistance bacteria nowadays make a limited choice of antibiotic available for treatment. This circumstance is an alarming to public health. Thus, public knowledge and attitude towards antibiotic usage play an important role in the success of treatment process. This study aimed to evaluate public knowledge and attitude towards antibiotic utilization and the association of knowledge with demographic variables. A self-administered cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 380 respondents by using a pre-validate questionnaire at public places in Shah Alam, Malaysia from January 2014 to April 2014.From this study, it was analyzed that 43% of respondents have good knowledge towards antibiotic. Majority of the respondents knew antibiotic is used for bacterial infection. However, 40% of respondents misunderstood that antibiotic is indicated for viral infection. Half of the respondents know how to differentiate antibiotic with other drugs. High number of respondents, 63.2% knows that they need to complete full course of antibiotic, however in the attitude statement; only 57.9% of respondents complete their antibiotic course.Based on the percentage of correct response on the attitude statement positive attitude was observed. However, 57.4% still expect antibiotic to be prescribed for common cold. Demographic characteristics such as gender, race, educational level and healthcare occupation were found significant association with knowledge of antibiotic usage. It has been concluded that although knowledge of public is good, public should be stressed out of the importance of correct usage of antibiotic and promote changes in their attitude towards antibiotic usage.

Assessment of attitudes and practices of young Malaysian adults about antibiotics use: a cross-sectional study

“…With the rise in antibiotic resistance over the past decade, the factors for use of antibiotics without prescription among the general public should be clearly understood. The response rate in this study was about 96% which was comparatively high as compared to other studies conducted previously on the same subject 13,15,22…”

“…Only 18.75% of respondents reported using antibiotics within the past month which was lower than the 28.9% reported in the northern state of Penang13 and 29.2% reported in Shah Alam15 but higher than 16.5% reported in Putrajaya 22. The findings have shown that small study population was less knowledgeable pertaining to the indication of antibiotics for the treatment of common cold and cough.…”

“…It has also been shown that among antimicrobial agents the use of penicillin has been increased by more than 10.5% in 2010 when compared to 2009 12. lack of public knowledge towards antibiotic is a major factor responsible for inappropriate use of antibiotics 13-15. In a study conducted among general public in Penang, Malaysia, almost half (47.3%) of the respondents expected antibiotic to be prescribed in a common cold 13…”

Effectiveness of Pharmacists’ Intervention in Improving Patients Knowledge and Attitude Towards Antibiotic Usage in Klinik Kesihatan Seremban, Malaysia

“…In this study, most of the respondents knew that antibiotic was indicated for bacterial infections, 55.79%, which is lower than reports in Sweden, 77.2% (Qamar et al, 2014), Shah Alam 80.3% (Davies et al, 2010) and in Penang, 76.7% (Andre et al, 2010). In another knowledge statement, 67.4% of the respondents had a misconception that antibiotic can be used to eradicate viral infections which are relatively high as compared to study done in Sweden which is 26.8% (Qamar et al, 2014), Shah Alam 40.5% (Davies et al, 2010) and Penang 67.2% (Andre et al, 2010) but is lower than Putrajaya 80.3% (Azevedo et al, 2013).…”

“…In another knowledge statement, 67.4% of the respondents had a misconception that antibiotic can be used to eradicate viral infections which are relatively high as compared to study done in Sweden which is 26.8% (Qamar et al, 2014), Shah Alam 40.5% (Davies et al, 2010) and Penang 67.2% (Andre et al, 2010) but is lower than Putrajaya 80.3% (Azevedo et al, 2013). The probable reason for the lack of awareness in this area can be due to the terminology "germs" that are generally used in the delivery of medical advice or counseling to the patients instead of using the scientific terminology "bacteria" or "virus" (You et al, 2008).…”