Antibiotic Resistance Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study in West Bank, Palestine

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem worldwide. Dispensing antibiotics without prescription is a major contributing factor to antibiotic resistance. Pharmacists as healthcare providers are, in many studies, considered responsible for this practice. This study aims to explore Palestinian pharmacists’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning antibiotic resistance. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2021–2022. A random sample of 152 pharmacists was selected from the West Bank. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire that includes five sections: demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, practices, and potential interventions. Results indicated that 60% of pharmacists dispense antibiotics without a prescription. A significant association between pharmacies’ locality and antibiotic knowledge, attitudes, and practices was found. Pharmacists’ knowledge-related responses indicated that 92.1% of the pharmacists agreed that inappropriate use of antibiotics can lead to ineffective treatment and 86.2% disagreed that patients can stop taking antibiotics upon symptoms’ improvement. Only 17.1% disagreed that antibiotics should always be used to treat upper respiratory tract infections. Over two-thirds considered that they are aware of the regulations about antibiotic dispensing and acknowledged that antibiotics are classified as prescription drugs. Furthermore, 71.7% and 53.3% agreed that they have good knowledge of the pharmacological aspects of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance. Concerning attitudes, 75.6% agreed that antibiotic resistance is an important and serious public health issue facing the world, and 52% thought that antibiotic dispensing without a prescription is a common practice in the West Bank. Our findings indicate that pharmacists’ locality and practices related to antibiotic dispensing without prescription are associated with the increase in antibiotics misuse and bacterial resistance. There is a need to design education and training programs and implement legislation in Palestine to decrease antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic Prescribing Pattern: Pharmacy Staff Knowledge about Antibiotics at Primary Health Care Centers in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

“…However, there was a difference among pharmacists, which females more than make, which was expected because most females mainly worked at primary health care due to stable work and without night shit. The gender distribution resembles some previous studies 9,10,11,17 and differed from another study due to Albahouth, et al: Pharmacy Staff Knowledge about Antibiotics are thought to be less effective without an efficient immune response. Therefore, it is recommended that severely ill and immunosuppressed patients with bacterial infections should be treated with bactericidal.…”

“…13 It resembled others with age, gender, and experiences. 17 A different finding reported by a cross-sectional survey evaluated pharmacist knowledge in Sri Lanka, revealing that higher education is related to higher awareness of antibiotic resistance. In contrast, other demographic characteristics, such as gender, geographical area, years of experience, and employment status, were not significantly associated with appropriate antibiotic dispensing.…”

“…It might be the first pilot study done at the Primary Healthcare Center because most previous studies were conducted at hospitals or community pharmacies. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] The reliability test was medium, related to a small sample of participants.…”

“…[9][10][11] However, evaluating pharmacist and pharmacy technician knowledge background of rational usages of antibiotics is rarely found locally. [12][13][14][15][16][17] The authors were unfamiliar with previous research on the current topics published earlier. The current research aims to determine the knowledge of the rational usage of antibiotics by pharmacy staff at primary healthcare centers in Saudi Arabia.…”

Design and Synthesis of Novel Antimicrobial Agents

“…In addition to prescribing an inappropriate antibiotic, using antibiotics without a necessity, skipping doses, self-medicating, and sharing medications are key contributors to antibiotic resistance. This is owing to pharmacists’ lack of understanding, fear of losing clients, and lax legal protections [ 281 , 282 ]. Many institutions have found that implementing Antimicrobial Stewardship Plans (ASPs) can enhance therapeutic results, lower treatment-related costs, and hence slow or stop the evolution of antibiotic resistance [ 283 ].…”