Knowledge and practices in the use of antibiotics among a group of Nigerian university students

Abstract

the study examined the knowledge and practice of antibiotic use among students in a university in south western Nigeria. A questionnaire was administered to each of 500 students drawn from all the Departments in the university excluding those from the faculty of Pharmacy, Health Sciences and Department of Microbiology. A response rate of 99.2% was obtained from the respondents. the most commonly used antibiotics were tetracycline and amoxicillin. Antibiotic use for common cold was observed in 32.3% of the respondents while 17.7% used antibiotics for sore throat. Majority of the participants (72.4%) used the same antibiotics as previously prescribed by their doctors to treat their perceived infections while 51.2% kept left over antibiotics with the intention of future use. More than half (55%) of the students stopped taking their antibiotics when they felt better or when the symptoms of their infections appeared to have stopped. the students' rating of their sources of antibiotics and prescription for antibiotics indicated that most of the students do not know the appropriate sources from where to purchase their antibiotics nor do they know the appropriate persons from whom to obtain a prescription for antibiotics. the study showed a high rate of consumption of antibiotics among university undergraduates who mostly obtain their antibiotics without a physician's prescription from unofficial sources and do not complete their course of antibiotic therapy. these students need better education on the appropriate use of antibiotics in order to improve their attitude towards antibiotics.

The need for redesigned pharmacy practice courses in Pakistan: the perspectives of senior pharmacy students

“…The response rate of pharmacy students in the present study was 75%. This response rate may be considered average in comparison to other studies that have reported response rates of 60%-99% [ 4 , 6 ]. Our results suggested that hospital pharmacy, pharmacotherapeutics, and community pharmacy courses were taught comprehensively, while research in pharmacy practice, geriatric pharmacy, and pharmacy literature analysis/applied drug information received the least attention in the PharmD curriculum.…”

Knowledge, attitude and practices of antibiotic usage among university students from Karachi, Pakistan

“…A study done in general public in Karachi reported more unawareness (17%) but studies from India (4%) and Nigeria (9%) reported lesser unawareness compared to our study. [15][16][17] It was also seen that participants were not able to differentiate between antibiotics and anti-inflammatory agents (37%)/antipyretics (50%). A study from Taiwan reported more unawareness (Anti-inflammatory, 49%, antipyretics, 55%) among general public.…”

Assessing Knowledge, Perception and Attitudes About Antibiotics Among Final Year Pharmacy Undergraduates in Sri Lanka

“…However, examining individual questions, it is concerning that a majority of the participants (82%) believed antibiotics will speed up the recovery of coughs and colds. This observation has been reported in a number of studies conducted among undergraduate students of medical sciences and non-medical sciences [5,32]. However, as the majority of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are viral, antibiotics are not indicated [35].…”

“…Their use could be either appropriate or inappropriate, the use has been viewed as a key driver for progressive loss of bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics and the emergence, increase and spread of antibiotic resistance (ABR) [4,5]. The emergence and spread of microbial resistance to antibiotics is an important global public health issue that has been linked to the inappropriate use of antibiotics worldwide [6][7][8].…”

“…Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed, sold and used drugs globally [4,5]. Their use could be either appropriate or inappropriate, the use has been viewed as a key driver for progressive loss of bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics and the emergence, increase and spread of antibiotic resistance (ABR) [4,5].…”