Abstract
BackgroundAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major challenge for global health care. Pharmacists play a key role in the health care setting to help support the quality use of medicines. The education, training, and experiences of pharmacy students have the potential to impact on patterns of antibiotic use in community and hospital settings. The aim of this study was to investigate antibiotic use, knowledge of antibiotics and AMR among undergraduate pharmacy students at Sri Lankan universities and to compare this between junior and senior pharmacy student groups.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at the six universities in Sri Lanka that offer pharmacy undergraduate programmes. All pharmacy students in each university were invited to participate in this study using a self-administered questionnaire with ethics approval. The study instrument comprised five major sections: demographic information, self-reported antibiotic use, knowledge of antibiotic uses in human health, knowledge of AMR and antibiotic use in agriculture. Descriptive data analyses were conducted and Chi-squared analysis was used to explore associations between different variables and level of pharmacy education.ResultsFour hundred sixty-six pharmacy students completed the questionnaire. A majority of participants (76%) reported antibiotic use in the past year. More than half (57%) of the junior pharmacy students incorrectly indicated that antibiotic use is appropriate for the management of cold and flu conditions. Senior pharmacy students (n = 206) reported significantly better antibiotic knowledge than junior students (n = 260), p < 0.05. Overall pharmacy students showed good understanding of AMR and their knowledge level increased as the year of pharmacy study increased.ConclusionsThis study found that pharmacy students commonly report using antibiotics. Junior students report some misconceptions about antimicrobials. A comparison between junior and senior pharmacy students suggests that pharmacy education is associated with improved understanding of appropriate antibiotic use and AMR among undergraduate pharmacy students in Sri Lanka.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major challenge for global health care
Total numbers of students enrolled at each university across all years were 114 pharmacy students at University of Peradeniya (UoP), 111 at University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJP), 78 at University of Jaffna (UoJ), 75 at University of Ruhuna (UoR), 103 at Kothalawala Defence University (KDU) and 257 at Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)
Antibiotic use The frequency of the use of antibiotics for pharmacy students in Sri Lankan universities during the last year was high (75%) with a majority (77%) of the students reporting that they have purchased antibiotics by prescription
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major challenge for global health care. Pharmacists play a key role in the health care setting to help support the quality use of medicines. The populations of low and middle income countries are considered to be at greater public health risk given the relatively high prevalence of infection, over-the-counter availability of antibiotics, the lack of therapeutic guidelines for prescribers and limited access to microbiological testing to identify infections quickly and cost effectively [4]. In this context, the role of health care workers knowledgeable in the appropriate use of antibiotics and prevention of AMR is critical to the global efforts to reduce AMR and sustain antibiotic effectiveness. This training is critical for students of professional health care degrees, such as medicine, pharmacy and nursing
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
