Public Hospital Pharmacists’ Perceptions and Knowledge of Antibiotic Use and Resistance: A Multicenter Survey

Abstract

Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) has been implemented in major public hospitals in Malaysia, with pharmacists playing a key role in ensuring the appropriate use of antibiotics. This survey aimed to assess the practices, perceptions, and knowledge of public hospital pharmacists on antibiotic use and resistance. A cross-sectional survey involving pharmacists from six public hospitals in Penang was conducted using a self-administered validated questionnaire. The majority of pharmacists perceived that polypharmacy (92%, n = 270) and overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics (85%, n = 252) can potentially induce resistance of microorganisms and that ensuring the rational use of antibiotics is a shared responsibility between clinicians and pharmacists (94%, n = 278). A large majority of the pharmacists think that formal training in infectious disease should be a pre-requisite for pharmacists in ASP (93%, n = 273). In terms of antibiotic selection, the availability of antibiotics in hospital (81%, n = 234) and patient’s clinical condition (68%, n = 196) are more of a concern to the pharmacists. A total of 65% of the respondents (n = 192) demonstrated good levels of knowledge with a mean knowledge score of 10.1 out of 13 (95% CI: 9.95; 10.31). Pharmacists from the managerial level, ward pharmacy, in-patient, and medication therapy adherence clinic (MTAC) unit had better knowledge of antibiotics compared to pharmacists from other units (p < 0.001). Antibiotic knowledge gap had been identified among pharmacists in different work settings, and longer years of service does not warrant good antibiotic knowledge.

University Students’ Antibiotic Use and Knowledge of Antimicrobial Resistance: What Are the Common Myths?

“…This could lead to the rise of antibiotic misprescribing and/or overprescribing, further impacting the development of resistance. Thus, it is important to address one’s knowledge and beliefs of the proper antibiotic usage, hence stopping the misconceptions and expectations of using antibiotics to treat minor illnesses [ 16 , 17 ].…”

Pharmacists’ Interventions on Electronic Prescriptions from Various Specialty Wards in a Malaysian Public Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…On the other hand, the rate of interventions on e-prescriptions from paediatric wards in this study was low (3.2%) compared to other wards whereas a study by Cesarz et al (2013) showed the rate of interventions on paediatric prescriptions (23.6%) was higher than adult prescriptions (8.5%). Nonetheless, it is important to note that the specialty wards with ward pharmacists had a significantly higher number of interventions, likely owing to these pharmacists' active participation in clinical rounds, better clinical knowledge, and competence in medication use and recommendations, and thus fostering identification of patient medication needs and related problems [20][21][22]. Similarly, the acceptance rate among prescribers in wards with ward pharmacists on duty was significantly higher than in wards without ward pharmacists.…”

Antibiotic Resistance (Abr) and Community Pharmacist: A Review

“…The sale of antibiotics without medical prescription has been observed in many countries [41][42][43]. Globally 62% of antibiotics dispensed in community pharmacy do not have a prescription [9,44,45].…”

“…Community pharmacists knowledge about antibiotics and resistance have a significant impact on their dispensing practice [57][58][59]. Those with three to four years of experience knew more about how to use medications correctly than those with nine to ten years of experience [4,41,42]. ABR could be a major factor affecting the illegal and inappropriate supply of antibiotics to patients with mild diseases at community pharmacies because to a lack of information about antibiotics [30].…”