Misuse of antibiotic among university and higher education students in Sudan a cross-sectional, July 2020.

Abstract

Background: Misuse of antibiotics therapy refers to failure to end therapy, skipping of doses, re-use of left over. In Sudan, antibiotic resistance is notably high and is attributed to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. A lot of studies reported improper antibiotic use among university students .Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional analytical research was done among university and higher education student, using an online-based questionnaire to study misuse of antibiotics and it’s relation to different geographical areas in Sudan. The data was analyzed by SPPS version 25.0.Results: The majority of the participants were female (62%) and most of them had age more than 20 years. Assessment of antibiotics misuse revealed that many participants don’t have adequate behaviour toward antibiotics use. Only 48% stated that they will visit doctor when feel diseased,37% of the participants stop taking medication when feel better. Moreover 79% use antibiotics as prophylaxis. Comparing antibiotic misuse between type of study groups and parents medical background , those who study a non medical field stop their antibiotic course when feel better more (P value <.001). taking antibiotic for common cold was more common in students outside medical fields and those whose parents have medical background.Adjusted regression models showed significant association between using antibiotics without prescription and gender as females use more antibiotics than males 1.6 times. Completing antibiotics course was significantly associated with both type of study and age as medical students and higher age groups practice better. Conclusion:Our study provides a good idea about misuse of antibiotics among universities and higher education students regardless of residency area.