Knowledge and Attitudes towards Antibiotic Use and Resistance - A Latent Class Analysis of a Swedish Population-Based Sample

Abstract

BackgroundIn 2006, a study investigating knowledge and attitudes regarding antibiotic use and resistance in Sweden, indicated high level of knowledge but also areas in need of improvement.Objective(i) To provide an update on the knowledge and attitudes to antibiotic use and resistance of the Swedish population, and (ii) to identify which groups within the population are in particular need of improved knowledge or attitudes.MethodsA questionnaire was sent by post in 2013 to 2,500 randomly-selected individuals aged 18–74, living in Sweden. Latent class analyses were conducted to group respondents based on their responses. The association between socio-demographic characteristics and the probability of belonging to each latent class was assessed.ResultsThe response rate was 57%. Ninety-four per cent of the responders knew that bacteria could become resistant to antibiotics and the majority answered correctly to the questions regarding antibiotic resistance development. The respondents expressed confidence in doctors who decided not to prescribe antibiotics. Three latent classes related to ‘knowledge regarding antibiotic use and resistance’, two regarding ‘attitudes towards antibiotic accessibility and infection prevention’ and three regarding ‘attitudes towards antibiotic use and effects’ were revealed. Men, younger and more educated people were more knowledgeable but males had a less restrictive attitude. Respondents with high levels of knowledge on antibiotics were more likely to have appropriate restrictive attitudes to antibiotics.ConclusionKnowledge on antibiotic use and resistance is maintained high and has improved in Sweden compared to 2006. People with lower education and elderly are especially in need of improved knowledge about antibiotic use and resistance.

Hubungan Tingkat Pendidikan Formal Masyarakat terhadap Pengetahuan dalam Penggunaan Antibiotika Oral di Apotek Kecamatan Klojen

“…Semakin banyaknya informasi yang diterima, semakin mudah dan cepat bagi seseorang untuk memperbarui pengetahuannya dan membentuk landasan kognitif yang utuh mengenai suatu hal. Selanjutnya, level pengetahuan yang tinggi mengenai antibiotika memiliki efek positif pada perilaku penggunaan antibiotika 16 . Hasil analisis tabulasi silang dan uji korelasi Spearman antara tingkat pendidikan formal dan tingkat pengetahuan dalam penggunaan antibiotika oral dengan gender sebagai variabel kontrol menunjukkan bahwa nilai koefisien korelasi pada gender perempuan adalah 0,783, sedangkan pada gender laki-laki nilai koefisien korelasinya sebesar 0,616.…”

Managing Sustainable Use of Antibiotics—The Role of Trust

“…Antibiotic use also varies by individual factors, such as knowledge [17], gender [18], education [17,19], age [20], trust in institutions [6] and interpersonal trust [6,21].…”

“…Furthermore, subjective health is linked to higher levels of interpersonal trust [59], and positive health decisions [60], while people with higher stated well-being are more willing to wait to consume antibiotics [6]. Lastly, education can influence the focal relationship through higher levels of education being associated with more knowledge on appropriate use [17,19], while people who are more educated also tend to be more worried about the growth of resistance [6]. Controlling for education is also important since it could be related to levels of interpersonal trust [61].…”

Cualificación y experiencia de los vendedores de droguería para la dispensación de amoxicilina en una comuna de Santiago de Cali, Colombia

“…El bajo nivel de escolaridad se asoció con el menor conocimiento de estos medicamentos y la mayor información sobre su uso es recibida a partir de médicos y farmacéuticos [8]. Entonces, es imprescindible mejorar el conocimiento de la población general acerca del uso apropiado de los antibióticos [30], por lo que la cualificación y experiencia de los vendedores de droguerías, que son quienes lo recomiendan, puede contribuir a la adopción de actitudes de restricción apropiadas en el uso de estos medicamentos [31] y de esta manera aumentar la concientización al respecto.…”