Public Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior on Antibiotic Use: A Telephone Survey in Hong Kong

Abstract

Over 70% of the present cohort showed adequate knowledge, appropriate attitudes/beliefs and behavior on antibiotic use. Despite a small percent (8%-9%) of respondents reportedly shared and/or self-prescribed antibiotics, this would translate into the practice of half a million people in Hong Kong. Public education programmes should therefore be developed, targeting specific areas of misconceptions, misuse of antibiotic and vulnerable groups at risk of improper use of antibiotics.

Determinants of Antibiotics Misuse by the Parents in Children: A Survey From Northern Region of Saudi Arabia

“…Our study had higher percentages for inadequate knowledge, and beliefs compared to those reported from Hong Kong with whom our rate of misuse was closer than other studies 10,12 , nevertheless, practice of stopping antibiotics earlier (25%) when symptoms improve in our study were better than the reported estimate of 50% from Greece. 11 Symptoms of RTI are known to be associated with self-prescribed antibiotics, and parental pressure upon doctors to prescribe antibiotics.…”

“…Regarding beliefs 50% of parents agreed that if a child has runny nose, cough, sore throat or fever, antibiotics should be given, 28.7% agreed to stop the course of antibiotics if the symptoms start improving; 55% said that usually doctors give the same antibiotics upon consultation, but 66.2% were of the opinion that an antibiotic will not be effective in a community setting if it is over used ( Table-I). 4,10 have been invariably related with misuse practice whereas younger females 12 , have been associated with storing of antibiotics. Both low 4 , and high 5,10 income levels are reported to be associated with antibiotic misuse.…”

“…This indicates a low awareness for the development of bacterial resistance. Such an issue is reported from a study that 28% were unaware of the dangers associated with antibiotic misuse 10 , education about the appropriate usage of antibiotics and the issue of bacterial resistance should be introduced to the public. Failure to complete therapy, ignoring and skipping dosage, reusing leftover antibiotic and self-medication can have detrimental effects both at the individual and community level with development of resistance, low potency, diagnostic errors, and therapeutic problem.…”

Awareness and Knowledge about Antibiotic Use and Resistance among Students of Northern Border University Saudi Arabia

“…Many studies have reported that antibiotic regime non-adherence and in-appropriate antibiotic use are strongly associated with public awareness and knowledge of antibiotics [2][3][4][5]. Factors associated with public knowledge of antibiotics have been reported to be demographic characteristics, including gender [2,4,[6][7][8], age [6,[8][9][10][11][12], race [7,9], education level [3,4,[6][7][8][9][10][12][13][14][15], family income [4,8,14], place of residence [13,14], as well as other factors, such as lack of advice regarding rational antibiotic use, given by a physician [16]. Also, unregulated drug availability, inadequate antimicrobial drug quality assurance, inadequate surveillance and widespread attitude to antimicrobial misuse, include self-medication [17].…”

Knowledge, attitude and practices of antibiotic usage among the medical undergraduates of a tertiary care teaching hospital: an observational cross-sectional study

“…In recent years, an increasing number of researchers have focused their attention on antibiotic misuse, and follow with interest the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards antibiotics use of public. 4,5 Medical students are future doctors for any society and they are the primary stakeholders in any health care system. 6 Therefore, their beliefs and practices regarding antibiotic prescribing will have an impact on antibiotic resistance.…”