Abstract
BackgroundResistance to antibiotics is a growing problem, worldwide and particularly in developing countries like Jordan. Raising public awareness on appropriate antibiotic use is crucial to combat this problem. The current study describes the change in public Knowledge and attitudes towards the use of antibiotics over a period of 8 years.MethodsTwo cross-sectional studies were performed 8 years apart on Jordanians of different age groups, and social settings, residing in Amman, Jordan. Convenience non-probability sampling techniques were used. In 2010, a questionnaire was distributed in paper form, whereas in 2018 snowball sampling was used to disseminate an identical electronic questionnaire. Chi-square test and post hoc analysis were done using the z-test to compare column proportions, adjustment for multiple testing using the Bonferroni method. Multiple logistic regression was used to adjust for case mix for each survey. Comparisons were made across the two studies and within each study.ResultsA total of 711 participants in 2010 and 436 participants in 2018 were surveyed. Over the 8-year period, there was a significant improvement in the beliefs regarding the use of antibiotics such as disagreeing to keeping left over antibiotics for later use from 57 to 70% (p < 0.05) and disagreeing to buying antibiotics without physicians’ consent increased from 80 to 89% (P value < 0.001). There was no significant change in the beliefs that support self-medication such as: using antibiotics from a friend (72 to 77%) buying antibiotics without a prescription (42 to 45%), and getting information about medication use from leaflet without referring to a health care professional (60 to 63%). There were some areas of confusion regarding antibiotic range of effectiveness, and origin of resistance. Agreement about antibiotic resistance being a problem in Jordan increased significantly from 44 to 60% (p < 0.001). In addition, there was a significant increase in the percentage of participants who said that they don’t request antibiotics from physicians (56 to 75% (P ≤ 0.001) and who said they would trust physicians’ decisions about the necessity of antibiotics (70 to 83% P < 0.05).ConclusionFindings indicate the need for better suited, and more inclusive, public educational campaigns.
Highlights
Resistance to antibiotics is a growing problem, worldwide and in developing countries like Jordan
Beliefs and attitudes towards antibiotic use Eighty-three percent of our sample knew a name of an antibiotic in 2010 compared to 95.5% in 2018
Variation in the case mix of participants in both surveys that was created with the use of different non-probability sampling techniques, was adjusted for by the use of the regression model The Snowballing technique that was used for the dissemination of the electronic questionnaire, may have resulted in sampling bias such as referral of the questionnaire to people who have similar traits or to those who utilized social media platforms used for the distribution of the questionnaire, overlooking those who choose not to use these platforms
Summary
Resistance to antibiotics is a growing problem, worldwide and in developing countries like Jordan. Raising public awareness on appropriate antibiotic use is crucial to combat this problem. The current study describes the change in public Knowledge and attitudes towards the use of antibiotics over a period of 8 years. Excessive, and unnecessary use have resulted in the development of resistance towards their effect [2]. This problem is well known to scientists who work in the field, on the contrary, a considerable proportion of the public remain unaware of it [3, 4]. Patients quite often do not comply to the correct dose, omit doses, or combine antibiotics with herbs believing that it would improve their effect [5]
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