Knowledge, attitude and practice about antimicrobial use and their resistance in health care professionals at civil hospital, Ahmedabad

Abstract

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat which challenges the current treatment of infectious diseases. Rational prescribing can help to limit this. Therefore, a KAP-survey regarding antimicrobial use and their resistance was conducted among health care professionals at Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad (CHA). Methods: A validated questionnaire was given to participants and data was analysed using appropriate statistical tests. A total of 164 participants were interviewed from various medical specialties. Results: Fifty seven participants (34%) prescribed antimicrobial agents (AMAs) regularly. The most common conditions for prescribing AMAs were upper respiratory tract infections (64%) and other viral illnesses (34%). Most common antimicrobial agent prescribed was azithromycin (43%). Antimicrobials were most commonly prescribed empirically for treating emergency cases. The common sources of information were textbooks (80%) and internet (54%). Most participants agreed that antimicrobial resistance is a local as well as global problem. Common causes of AMR were cited to be incomplete treatment (83%) and excessive use of AMAs (60%). Majority (75%) of the participants agreed that antisepsis was the best way to decrease incidence of nosocomial infections. About 75% of the participants were aware about the existing hospital antimicrobial policy and prescribed AMAs accordingly. Conclusions: The study highlights the poor knowledge of the interns regarding use of AMAs, common causes of antimicrobial resistance and measures that can be adopted to reduce the resistance. Moreover, though the knowledge and attitude were good in post graduates and faculty members they were of the opinion that the unavailability of antibiogram and shortage of time make the practice poor. We opine that a comprehensive training regarding use of AMAs during internship can help in rational prescribing in future practitioners.