Drugs in upper respiratory tract infections in paediatric patients in North Trinidad

Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior about Antimicrobial Use and Resistance among Medical, Nursing and Pharmacy Students in Jordan: A Cross Sectional Study

The present study aimed to survey medical, nursing and pharmacy students' knowledge, attitude and practice regarding antimicrobial use and resistance. Additionally, the study assessed the teaching and assessment activities received regarding antibiotic use. A cross sectional online survey was distributed to undergraduate students currently in clinical studies in their degree program. A total of 716 medicine, nursing and pharmacy undergraduate students were included. Respondents scored more than 76% on knowledge on effective use, unnecessary use and associated side effects of antibiotics, and 65.2% regarding knowledge on the spread of antibiotic resistance. Some participants (21.0%) agreed or strongly agreed that there has been good promotion of prudent antimicrobial use. Students were aware (13.1%), unaware (29.1%), or unsure (57.8%) that there is a national action plan relating to antimicrobial resistance. A total of 62.8% of the respondents strongly agreed or agreed that they have a key role in helping control antibiotic resistance. Participants reported that they require more information about resistance to antibiotics (53.9%), medical conditions for which antibiotics are used (51.7%) and how to use antibiotics (51.0%). Discussion of clinical cases and vignettes and small group teaching were reported as very useful or useful teaching strategies (79.9% and 74.2%, respectively). The findings from this study determined the current situation in relation to education on prudent antimicrobial use for undergraduates and highlighted areas for informing better curriculum design.

Antibiotic Resistance in Trinidad: A population-based survey of adults

Objectives: Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is a growing public health issue globally. This study aimed to ascertain the public’s knowledge of antibiotic resistance and to determine any associated demographic factors. Method: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in Trinidad using a modified version of a World Health Organization questionnaire. Five hundred and fifty participants aged 16 years and older were interviewed. Data were analysed using SPSS Version-22. Results: The response rate was 91% (502/550). Most responders (53%) reported having taken antibiotics during the 6-month period prior to the survey. Almost 60% of responders believed that sore throat and colds/flu can be treated with antibiotics. Sixty-seven percent of responders believed that they had no individual role in combating the issue. Responders with a primary level education or older respondents were more likely than responders with a higher level of education or younger to agree that antibiotic resistance only affects those who use antibiotics frequently (p= 0.002 and p=0.017 respectively). Income level was also significantly associated with knowledge levels, the higher the income the more knowledgeable the responder. Conclusion: Our study found that public knowledge of antibiotic resistance is low. Age, income and educational levels were significantly associated with certain knowledge parameters. Much work needs to be done to change the attitudes of responders who believe they have no role to play in the fight against this national and global threat. These findings may be useful to health education professionals and government antimicrobial resistance programmes.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of B.Sc. Pharmacy students about antibiotics in Trinidad and Tobago

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of B.Sc. Pharmacy students about usage and resistance of antibiotics in Trinidad and Tobago.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study involving B.Sc. Pharmacy students. The questionnaire was divided into five components including Demographics data, knowledge about antibiotic use, attitude toward antibiotic use and resistance, self-antibiotic usage and possible causes of antibiotic resistance. Data were analyzed by employing Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests using SPSS version 20.

FINDINGS

The response rate was 83.07%. The results showed good knowledge of antibiotic use among students. The overall attitude of pharmacy students was poor. About 75% of participants rarely use antibiotics, whereas self-decision was the major reason of antibiotic use (40.7%) and main source of information was retail pharmacist (42.6%). Common cold and flu is a major problem for which antibiotics were mainly utilized by pharmacy students (35.2%).

CONCLUSION

The study showed good knowledge of pharmacy students regarding antibiotic usage. However, students' attitude towards antibiotic use was poor. The study recommends future studies to be conducted with interventional design to improve knowledge and attitude of pharmacy students about antibiotic use and resistance.

Drug utilization pattern in South Indian pediatric population: A prospective study

BACKGROUND

Studies on the process of drug utilization focus on factors related to prescribing, dispensing, administering and taking of medication and its associated events.

AIMS

The aim of this study is to assess the prescribing patterns of medicines, apply the World Health Organization (WHO) core indicators and to assess the appropriateness of prescribed medicines in a pediatric unit.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A prospective observational drug utilization study was carried out in a pediatric unit of a super specialty hospital in South India for a period of 9 months. Patients who attended the pediatric unit with the age newborn to 18 years were included in the study and patients who were not willing to participate in the study were excluded and the data collected from the pediatric unit were analyzed.

RESULTS

Out of 209 patients, the average number of drugs per patient was 4.56. The percentage of drugs prescribed with the generic name was found to be 19.16%. Among 209 prescriptions 49.78% of the drugs were essential drugs. Among the antibiotics 33.33% prescribed, cephalosporin group were the most commonly prescribed followed by amino glycoside and penicillin. Nearly, 21.80% of the medicines were given as intravenous and the prescriptions without drugs were 1.43%. Only 75.6% of patients have knowledge about their dosage schedule and almost all the prescriptions were appropriate.

CONCLUSION

The assessment of WHO core indicators helped to improvise the prescribing pattern, identify significant problems involved in the knowledge gap of patients or caretakers understanding of instructions provided by consultants and even to minimize the cost burden on patient.