Cross-sectional Survey on Antibiotic Prescription Practices Among Health Care Providers in Rombo District, Northern Tanzania

Abstract

Background: Irrational and inappropriate antibiotic prescription is a worldwide phenomenonincreasing the threat of serious antibiotic resistance. A better understanding of health care providers' knowledge, attitudes, and prescription practices related to antibiotics is essential for formulating effective antibiotics stewardship programmes. The aim of the present study was to assess knowledge, attitudes, and prescription practices toward antibiotics among health care providers. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between March and June 2017 to assess knowledge, attitudes, and prescription practices toward antibiotics among health care providers in the Rombo district of northern Tanzania. A total of 217 health care providers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Results: Over half of health care providers (n=111, 51.2%) strongly agreed that the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics puts patients at risk. More than half (n=112, 51.6%) reported that their decision to start antibiotic therapy was influenced by a patient's clinical condition, while 110 (50.7%) reported they were influenced by positive microbiological results in symptomatic patients. Almost two-thirds of the health care providers (n=136, 62.7%) reported that they had access to and used antibiotic therapy guidelines. Less than a quarter (n=52, 24.0%) received regular training and education in antibiotic prescription practice in their work place. Conclusion: Knowledge and prescription practice of antibiotics among health care providers was generally unsatisfactory. Training and education for health care providers is needed in the area of prescribing antibiotics.

Drivers of irrational use of antibiotics among children: a mixed-method study among prescribers and dispensers in Tanzania

“…Moreover, in several studies, the misuse of antibiotics has been associated with their poor knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) [13,14]. Reports from Tanzania on rational use of antibiotics with reference to children are scarce, most confined in the Northern part of Tanzania [15][16][17], and others are focused on parents/caregivers [18,19]. These reports show, poor practices by healthcare workers, that translates to antibiotic overdosing ranging from 60-87% [17] treatment of viral infection with antibiotics 28-69% [17,20] and polypharmacy 15-30% [17,20], however they cannot be generalized to other regions of Tanzania.…”

Antibiotic use in Moshi Urban: A cross-sectional Study of Knowledge and Practices among Caretakers of Children in Kilimanjaro Tanzania

“…In Tanzania, several studies have recommended that policy on drug dispensing should be adhered to; [10] and that the government through the Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA) intervene by a mass education, dispensers' education and lawfully enforcing the restriction on access to antibiotics on prescription only policy, [29] engaging in training and education of health care providers in the area of antibiotic prescribing and risk of AMR development. [31] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In our settings, pharmacies do sell drugs not only to people with antibiotic prescriptions but also to those without prescriptions; here we recommend that pharmacists provide information/ knowledge to people regarding antibiotics, their uses, consequences of consuming them without a doctor's prescription, and also the type of infections that are targeted by such antibiotics. All the recommendations made above are highly emphasized in the current study; moreover, we call upon the use of media campaigns to advocate for the importance of rational use of antibiotics and their effect on human health and the risk of AMR development.…”

Physician prescription practice of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infection at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre Moshi, Tanzania

“…The present study, reports a relatively lower prevalence as compared to a studies by Gwimile et al (2012) with a prevalence of 84.9%, a study in Namibia, with a prevalence of 78% among adults and children (Kunda et al, 2015) and in Malaysia, a prevalence of 68.4% (Teng et al, 2004). The reason for lower prevalence could be because of the availability of supportive environments such as laboratory facilities and effective hospital policies that influence antibiotic prescribing behaviors (Lyimo et al, 2018).…”

“…Although prescribing patterns generally differ between countries due to the national guidelines and drugs available, very little is known about antibiotics prescribing practices in Tanzania and specifically at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC). Despite the fact that awareness of the consequences of antibiotic misuse is increasing among population (Mbwambo et al, 2017), as well as among healthcare providers (Lyimo et al, 2018), in the northern part of Tanzania, overprescribing of antibiotics is still being practiced at high rate even before availability of laboratory results are made available (Chilongola et al, 2015;Kajeguka et al, 2017). Therefore, this study aimed at assessing physician prescription practice on antibiotics for URTIs.…”