Paramedical staffs knowledge and attitudes towards antimicrobial resistance in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundThe continuing emergence, development and spread of pathogenic organisms that are resistant to antimicrobials are a cause of increasing concern. The control of antimicrobial resistance requires knowledge of factors causing antimicrobial resistance, good attitudes towards the intervention strategies as well as changes in antibiotic prescribing behavior of health workers. Hence, this study was aimed to assess paramedical staffs’ knowledge and attitudes towards antimicrobial resistance and their antibiotics prescription practices in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among paramedical staffs working in hospitals and health centers. A total of 218 paramedical staffs were participated and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Chi square/Fisher’s exact tests were used for comparison of data and a p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsOut of the total, 137 (62.8%) of paramedical staffs had good knowledge on the factors causing antimicrobial resistance. The most common causes of antimicrobial resistance reported were patients’ poor adherence (96.5%), self prescription (95%), and empiric choice of antibiotics (94.5%). In general, more than 80% of the respondents had positive attitudes towards the antimicrobials resistance intervention strategies. Relatively less proportion of participants recognized that antimicrobial resistance as a problem in their local institutions. The most perceived driving forces for unnecessary antibiotics prescriptions were treatment failure (67.7%) and patient push (53.3%). The majority, 76.9% of the prescribers mentioned that standard treatment guidelines were available in their institutions though only 15.7% of them reported referring the guidelines on the daily basis. Among the prescribers, 85.8% never attended formal trainings on antibiotics prescriptions.ConclusionsAs this study generated important information on knowledge and attitudes of paramedical staffs about antimicrobial resistance, it identified areas of misconceptions and specific groups to be targeted for educational interventions regarding antimicrobial resistance. It is, therefore, suggested that a well-planned, organized and structured training programs should be undertaken to improve the appropriate use of antibiotics.

Healthcare Professionals’ Knowledge of Pharmacogenetics and Attitudes Towards Antimicrobial Utilization in Zambia: Implications for a Precision Medicine Approach to Reducing Antimicrobial Resistance

“…This finding is consistent with other studies which reported that patient's demands, as well as non-compliance to treatments and guidelines, contribute to AMR ( Moore and McNulty, 2012 ; Wang et al, 2019 ). This contrasted though with another study in Ethiopia which showed that more than three-quarters of nurses surveyed thought adherence or correct treatment were not important contributors to AMR ( Tafa et al, 2017 ); however, the authors suggested that topics of AMR should be embedded in their training curriculum.…”

Prevalence of Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…This could be true in settings where infection control knowledge, attitudes and practices among healthcare workers is poor in Ethiopia [60]. High frequency of inappropriate use of antibiotics and empirical therapies by healthcare professionals was also reported in Eastern Ethiopia [61]. In addition, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing method was based chiefly on disc diffusion and resistance was defined following the CLSI guideline.…”

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“…This finding is consistent with other studies which reported that patient's demands, as well as non-compliance to treatments and guidelines, contribute to AMR (Moore and McNulty, 2012;Wang et al, 2019). This contrasted though with another study in Ethiopia which showed that more than three-quarters of nurses surveyed thought adherence or correct treatment were not important contributors to AMR (Tafa et al, 2017); however, the authors suggested that topics of AMR should be embedded in their training curriculum. In our study, less than one-third of the participants responded that reduced access to local antibiograms could lead to AMR.…”