Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to COVID‐19 infection, related behavior, antibiotics usage, and resistance among Syrian population: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Background and Aims Antibiotic resistance is seen as a worldwide health risk as a result of the overuse of antibiotics. Many countries noted that antibiotic usage was high during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to evaluate Syrians' knowledge, attitudes, and practice about the use of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance during the COVID‐19 epidemic. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire to collect the data from the Syrian population from February 5 to March 4, 2022. Syrians 18 years or older all over the world were able to participate in this study. A convenience snowball sampling method was used. SPSS version 20.0 was used to analyze the data. To examine the results, binominal logistic regression was used. Statistical significance was defined as a p < 0.05. Results Out of 2406 respondents, 60.2% knew that transmission of COVID‐19 could occur even if the patient has not developed any symptoms, and 91.6% were able to recognize the main clinical symptoms of COVID‐19. There was a statistically significant difference between male and female knowledge of COVID‐19 ( p = 0.002), with males having 3.78 ± 2.1 (2.7–3.87) and females scoring 3.93 ± 2.3 (3.7–4.1). Newly graduated students have more knowledge of COVID‐19 than other subtypes of Job ( p = 0.0001), and those with medical practice are more knowledgeable than those without ( p = 0.0001). Only 16.6% answered that taking antibiotics would not speed up the recovery from all the infections. 65.3% answered correctly that misuse of antibiotics could cause antibiotic resistance. Conclusion Our study concluded that the Syrian population demonstrated good knowledge of COVID‐19 and moderate acceptance of the new norm. Knowledge regarding antibiotic use and resistance and practice of preventive measures was poor, which can encourage the health authorities to develop community education programs to increase public awareness of the usage of antibiotics and safety protocols during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Antibiotics Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours among the Population Living in Cyprus

“…For example, in a study by Pogurschi et al, the authors reported that the Romanian population was not disciplined enough when it comes to completing antibiotic treatments, as 29.2% of the respondents indicated they would stop the course of antibiotics if their symptoms improved [15]. In a cross-sectional study of 2406 Syrian respondents, a high proportion of the citizens (65.3%) were aware that antibiotic resistance will spread faster as a result of improper antibiotic usage [29]. Recently, in a survey of 15,526 Chinese antibiotic users, Yin et al revealed that 53.3% of the respondents were non-adherent to antibiotic treatment, and the most commonly observed non-adherence behaviour was discontinuing antibiotics early (78.0%), followed by missing antibiotics (48.3%), decreasing antibiotic dosage (25.5%) and increasing antibiotic dosage (15.2%) [30].…”

Parental Attitude, Knowledge, and Practices Regarding the Usage of Antibiotics for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…A study from Syria analysing knowledge of antibiotic usage during COVID-19 found that there was a statistically significant difference between males and females. They noted that males had better knowledge about antibiotic usage during COVID-19 (p=0.023) [ 29 ]. This data raises the need for a better awareness campaign through print, electronic and digital media during a pandemic.…”