Abstract
IntroductionAssessment of public awareness on antibiotic use and resistance can identify key issues for campaigns addressing these problems. Our aim was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) related to antibiotic use and multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens in a general population in Germany.MethodsWe conducted a KAP survey on antibiotics and on MDR pathogens using an online panel recruited from the general population, which was established using stratified random sampling from the population registry in four districts in Lower Saxony, Germany.ResultsIn the 12 months preceding the survey, 32.3% of the participants had received at least one prescription for antibiotics, 95.7% reported to follow the recommendations of prescribers, and 10.3% reported to stop taking antibiotics as soon as they feel better. Up to 94.9% of the participants had heard of MDR pathogens, 42.7% reported to know somebody who had been tested positive for it, 0.8% had an infection with it, and 37.2% were worried of contracting it. In case of contact with a carrier of MDR pathogens, over 90% would increase hand hygiene and 0.8% would avoid the carrier completely. Participants considered health care workers (75.1%) and everybody in society (87.8%) to be responsible for combating the spread of MDR pathogens.ConclusionThere is a high reported exposure to antibiotics and awareness of the problem of MDR pathogens. Despite personal worries, most of the participants indicated a reasonable, non-stigmatizing behavior toward carriers of MDR pathogens, and that every individual was responsible to avoid their spread.
Highlights
Assessment of public awareness on antibiotic use and resistance can identify key issues for campaigns addressing these problems
We aimed to find out whether differences exist in the general perceptions of the different sub-groups of the population and the impact of these factors on public knowledge about antibiotic use and multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens
Almost all participants (94.9% [92.2%, 97.5%]) had heard of MDR pathogens, 42.7% [38.0%, 47.3%] reported to know somebody who was tested positive for an MDR pathogen, and 0.8% [0.2%, 1.4%] reported that they were at some point in their life tested positive for an MDR pathogen
Summary
Assessment of public awareness on antibiotic use and resistance can identify key issues for campaigns addressing these problems. Our aim was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) related to antibiotic use and multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens in a general population in Germany. The development of antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern in Europe (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2017) and worldwide (World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). Understanding the current public knowledge about antibiotics and the development of resistances and identifying misconceptions could help to shape policies and campaigns addressing these problems (Shallcross et al, 2015; World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). The World Health Organization [WHO], 2015 multicountry report showed that awareness of the existence of antibiotic resistance was widespread in general populations, but understanding of the implications was mixed (World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). Studies from the United Kingdom and Italy showed that early termination of antibiotics was a common problem, and happened mostly when patients started to feel better (McNulty et al, 2007; Grosso et al, 2012)
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