Measurement of Knowledge, attitudes and practices of parents on misuse of antibiotics in children with acute upper respiratory tract infections in Sohag district

Abstract

Background: Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are considered to be the most common reason for children’s visits to outpatient clinics. The emergence and spread of resistance related to the irrational use of antibiotics is a major global public health problem. Aim of the work: This study aimed to assess parents’ knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding the use of antibiotics in URTIs in children. Methodology: A cross-sectional study wascarried out among parents(N=800) of children who were attending the maternal and child health center in Sohag city and the family medicine unit in Elmahamdaelbahria village in the period from 1st July 2016 till 31th May 2017 .Results:Our results revealed that females were about 62.6%, those not sharing in labor force were 55.9 %, and urban parents were about58.8%. The mean age of parents was 33 years old.There is a statistically highly significant difference between mother & father in mean scoresof knowledge, attitude, practice; they were lower in fathers. Also, there is statistically significant difference between parents with different ages in practice score. There are highly statistically significant differences between mothers who were sharing and not sharing in labor force in Attitude, Practice scores. Conclusion:Parents with loweducational level, rural residence, low income and with two children or less have lack of knowledge ,inappropriate beliefs andpractices so they are vulnerable for misusing antibiotics for their children.