The English antibiotic awareness campaigns: did they change the public's knowledge of and attitudes to antibiotic use?

Abstract

There is little evidence that the 2008 public antibiotic campaigns were effective. The use and visibility of future campaign materials needs auditing. A carefully planned approach that targets the public in GP waiting rooms and through clinicians in consultations may be a more effective way of improving prudent antibiotic use.

An audit on the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes about the uses and side-effects of antibiotics among outpatients attending 2 teaching hospitals in Jordan

“…Other studies, however, have found that public awareness campaigns about antibiotics had no effect on the level of knowledge or the types of interventions desired by participants [21,29].…”

“…In a Swedish study only 19.1% agreed that antibiotics can be used to cure common colds [20]. This higher knowledge can be attributed in part to the multiple educational campaigns conducted in these countries [21]. In another study from Hong Kong, 26% of the sample believed that antibiotics were needed for symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections if they felt sick enough to seek medical care [22].Conversely, in a study carried out on patients visiting clinics in New York, 70% though that antibiotics must be used for viral infections [23], similar to our own findings.…”

‘The Body Gets Used to Them’: Patients’ Interpretations of Antibiotic Resistance and the Implications for Containment Strategies

“…[3][4][5][6] There have been public campaigns in many European countries promoting appropriate antibiotic prescription and use with mixed results. 7 Formal evaluations of some campaigns suggest that they contributed to more careful antibiotic use, especially in high antibiotic prescribing countries.…”

Exploring the evidence base for national and regional policy interventions to combat resistance

“…45 An evaluation of EAAD effectiveness in the UK for instance concluded that the campaign had only led to a minimal increase in public awareness, with no observable reduction in antibiotic use. 46 However, long-running campaigns, especially in Australia and France, have been associated with modest but consistent improvements in consumer awareness, as well as a reduction in antibiotic prescribing.. 47,24 What has proved to be particularly challenging is communicating the differences between bacterial and viral infections. 30,48 Case study 1: The physican and patient perspective -how failure to engage the private sector in AMR control can impact health A 43-year old male patient with a past history of tuberculosis infection presented at a tertiary care centre in Karachi, Pakistan, with a one-month history of hemoptysis, fever and weight loss.…”