Abstract
In response to the antimicrobial resistance issue, the World Health Organization developed and conducted a survey in 2015 dealing with habits, antibiotic use, awareness of appropriate use and sensitization to the issue of antibacterial resistance. In France, we conducted a similar survey to investigate the use of antibiotics and students’ perceptions of the antibiotic resistance risk. Our results indicated that antibiotics are moderately taken (42% in the last six months), but mistakes remain in appropriate practices and knowledge. Many people still believe that the body develops resistance to antibiotics and 24% responded that antibiotics can be stopped before the end of the treatment if they feel better. Furthermore, only 14% said antibiotics could be used to treat gonorrhea while 57% indicated that influenza could be treated with antibiotics. We looked at risk perception as well, and noticed that students in biology were more aware of risk (mean score = 48.87) and health consequences (mean score = 40.33) than mathematics students (mean score = 44.11 and 37.44). They were more aware of the threat, had a better understanding of antibiotic resistance and their denial of this risk was less significant (mean score = 27.04 against 23.81). However, the importance of providing a minimum level of knowledge to young students has been emphasized, regardless of the field of expertise.
Highlights
Antibiotic-resistant organisms have emerged as a major public health concern, in healthcare centers [1]
We found that life science students expressed more concern for health consequences of antibiotic resistance (ABR) risk than mathematics students did
For question #6, we discovered that subjects who follow appropriate practices are more concerned about the health consequences of ABR risk and perceive ABR risk to be higher to a lesser extent
Summary
Antibiotic-resistant organisms have emerged as a major public health concern, in healthcare centers [1]. The World Health Organization (WHO) described a lack of new innovative antibiotics in 2019 and emphasized the need to change the way antibiotics are currently administered, as well as the difficulties of medical procedures such as caesarean sections and hip replacements [10,13]. This emerging risk, with a slow or non-existent reversibility rate [14], can be addressed through appropriate antibiotic use (i.e., dosage adherence, treatment completion, and the absence of self-medication), control
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