Knowledge, attitude and practices of antibiotic usage and resistance among the second year MBBS Students

Shweta Sharma; Dhanya Jayakumar; Dhanya S. Palappallil; Kala P. Kesavan

doi:10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20161542

Authors

Shweta Sharma Department of Pharmacology, Govt. T. D. Medical College, Alappuzha, Kerala, India
Dhanya Jayakumar Department of Pharmacology, Govt. T. D. Medical College, Alappuzha, Kerala, India
Dhanya S. Palappallil Department of Pharmacology, Govt. T. D. Medical College, Alappuzha, Kerala, India
Kala P. Kesavan Department of Pharmacology, Govt. T. D. Medical College, Alappuzha, Kerala, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20161542

Keywords:

Antibiotic resistance, Rational drug use, KAP, Undergraduate medical student

Abstract

Background: Social aspect of antibiotic management forms a significant way to overcome the rapidly intensifying problem of antibiotic resistance. Knowledge helps in spreading awareness and understanding while attitude and practices influences health related behaviour. Medical students should not only be made aware of the current emerging health issues but also be directed towards rational antibiotics prescribing behaviour as future medical practitioners. Therefore, present study was undertaken to assess the existing knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) related to antibiotic usage and resistance among second year (fourth semester) MBBS students.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire based study conducted in department of pharmacology of a government medical college in Kerala, India. Questionnaire was distributed among a batch of 120 second year MBBS students after one of the pharmacology lecture session. Attitude and Practices related questions were assessed using Likert scale. Data was entered in excel and analysed using descriptive statistics of SPSS to generate frequency and percentage.

Results: 91.6% (110) were considered valid for analysis. Mean age was 21±1 years. Students had fair knowledge regarding antibiotics usage and resistance with mean correct response 79.72±25.37%. Mean correct responses of attitude and practices related questions were found to be 55.95±25.63% and 64±13.79% respectively.

Conclusions: Most of the students were aware of the antibiotic resistance and its consequences. However, their attitude and practices were found to be a matter of great concern. An educational intervention can be introduced to bring about behaviour changes regarding rational antibiotics prescribing among them.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Kumar SG, Adithan C, Harish BN, Sujatha S, Roy G, Malini A. Antimicrobial resistance in India: a review. J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2013;4:286-9.

World health organization. Prevention and containment of antimicrobial resistance. Available at http://www.ino.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Other_Content_WHD11-Seminar_Presentation-WRpdf. Accessed 15 February 2016.

World health organization. Prevention and containment of antimicrobial resistance. Available at http://www.searo.who.int/entity/antimicrobial_resistance/sea_cd_273.pdf?ua=1. Accessed 15 February 2016.

Directorate general of health service. National policy for containment of antimicrobial resistance India. Available at http://www.ncdc.gov.in/writereaddata/linkimages/amr_policy1600931343.pdf. Accessed 15 February 2016.

Scaioli G, Gualano MR, Gill R, Masucci S, Bert F, Siliquini R. Antibiotic use: A cross-sectional assessing the knowledge, attitudes and practices amongst students of a school of medicine in Italy. PLoS ONE. 2015;10:0122476.

Mahajan M, Dughgaonkar S, Deshmukh S. A questionnaire based survey on the knowledge, attitude and practises about antimicrobial resistance and usage among the second year MBBS students of a teaching tertiary care hospital in central India. International Journal of Pharmacological Research 2014;4:175-9.

Abbo LM, Cosgrove SE, Pottinger PS, Pereyra M, Sinkowitz-Cochran R, Srinivasan A. Medical student’s perceptions and knowledge about antimicrobial stewardship: how are we educating our future prescribers? Clin Infect Dis. 2013;57:631-8.

Khan AK, Banu G, KK R. Antibiotic resistance and usage-a survey on the knowledge, attitude, perceptions and practices among the medical students of a Southern Indian teaching hospital. J Clin Diagn Res. 2013;7:1613-6.

Huang Y, Gu J, Zhang M, Ren Z, Yang W, Chen Y, et al. Knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotics: a questionnaire study among 2500 Chinese students. BMC Medical Education. 2013;13:163.

Tarao SM, Nulla P, Zingpi M, Agatha G. A study on the knowledge, attitude, perceptions and practices of antibiotic usage and resistance among the medical students of JNIMS, Imphal, Manipur. Journal of Evidence Based Medicine and Healthcare. 2015;2:5262-8.

Steinberg I. Clinical choices of antibiotics: judging judicious use. The American Journal of Managed Care. 2000;6:1178-88.

Rathnakar UP, Sharma NK, Garg R, Unnikrishnan B, Gopalakrishnan HN. A study on the sale of antimicrobial agents without prescriptions in pharmacies in an urban area in South India. J Clin Diagn Res. 2012;6:951-4.

Wester CW, Durairaj L, Evans AT, Schwartz DN, Husain S, Martinez E. Antibiotic resistance-a survey of physician perceptions. Arch Intern Med. 2002;162:2210-6.

Nathwani D, Davey P. Antibiotic prescribing is there lessons for physicians? J med. 1999;92:287-92.

Spellberg B, Powers J, Brass E, Miller LG, Edwards JE. Trends in antimicrobial drug development: implications for the future. Clin Infect Dis. 2004;38:1279-86.

McCoy DM, Toussaint K, Gallagher JC. The pharmacist’s role in preventing antibiotic resistance. US Pharm. 2011;36:42-9.