Volume 25, Issue 115, September 2021

Antibiotic use and misuse: A cross-sectional study assessing the understanding of Saudi medical students

Abdullah Almutairi¹, Khalid Almahmoud¹, Ibrahim Alrumaih¹, Yazeed Alsaadi¹, Bandar Alamrai¹, Jihad Alrehaili², Javed Khan³, Razique Anwer^2♦

¹College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
²Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
³Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Antibiotic resistance (AMR) has emerged as a global public health concern, posing a significant economic and clinical impact on both individual and population health. The current state of antibiotic resistance is frequently blamed on its overuse and misuse. Therefore, this study was aimed to explore the knowledge and attitude of medical students from four different governmental universities in Riyadh. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional survey of 692 undergraduate medical students in each year group from four governmental universities in Riyadh city. Results: A total of 692 participants were from the four best universities of Riyadh retorted to the questionnaire with a response rate of 99%. The majority of the respondents were females (52%). Considering students' knowledge toward using antibiotic medications, we found that 73.1 % of participants had adequate knowledge where 94.9 % of students knew that antibiotics are used for bacterial infections. Furthermore, we found that 15 % of students would keep antibiotics at home to be used in an emergency for children while 13.8 % would use antibiotics as a preventive medication even with no signs or symptoms. Conclusion: We found that medical students in the Riyadh region had adequate knowledge about the usage of antibiotics and reasons for antibiotics resistance however, we notice some shortcoming including low knowledge about antibiotic-related sensitivity, not completing the course of the treatment, and for viral infection and using of antibiotic as preventable medications. More study on this subject, including prescription practices and antibiotics, is needed.

Keywords: Antibiotics, Antibiotic resistance, knowledge and attitude, Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2021, 25(115), 2163-2172

PDF