Abstract
The misuse of antibiotics in humans, animals, and plants is related to the spread of resistant antibiotic strains among humans and animals. In this paper, we carry out a bibliographic search of Medline, Web of Knowledge, and Cab s with the main objective of ascertaining the available evidence on non-clinical factors and attitudes that could influence the prescription of antibiotics by veterinarians. A total of 34 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Whereas, veterinary health professionals’ prescribing habits did not appear to be influenced by their socio-demographic characteristics, they were influenced by different attitudes, such as fear (identified in 19 out of 34 studies), self-confidence (19/34), business factors (19/34), and by complacency (16/34). Certain owner-related factors, such as lack of awareness (16/34) and demand for antibiotics (12/34), were also important, as were concurrent factors, ranging from a lack of appropriate regulations (10/34) to the expense and delays involved in performing culture and sensitivity tests (10/34) and inadequate farm hygiene (8/34). Our results appear to indicate that the non-clinical factors are potentially modifiable. This may be useful for designing interventions targeted at improving antibiotic use in animals, as part of an overall strategy to reduce the global spread of multi-resistant strains.
Highlights
Antimicrobials are a key resource, and antimicrobial resistance is acknowledged as one of the most serious threats currently facing public health worldwide
A total of 1386 papers were found in Medline, 1166 in Web of Knowledge, and 3209 in Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux (CAB) Abstracts
In contrast, indicated that it is the most experienced veterinarians who have a greater tendency to prescribe antibiotics: This may be due to the fact that their years of training lie in the past, at a time when far less stress was laid on the prudent use of ABXs
Summary
Antimicrobials are a key resource, and antimicrobial resistance is acknowledged as one of the most serious threats currently facing public health worldwide. The amount of antibiotics consumed by animals worldwide is huge, according to some estimates and if measures are not taken, this use will continue to rise around the world, with estimates showing that by 2030 it will be 11.5% higher than in 2017 [8]. The use of antimicrobial preparations designed for groups of animals (pre-mixes, oral powders, and oral solutions) continues to be a common practice [10,11]. This mass treatment of animals increases the likelihood of sick and healthy animals being exposed -repeatedly in many instances- to subtherapeutic
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
