Survey on antimicrobial resistance knowledge and perceptions in university students reveals concerning trends on antibiotic use and procurement

Author:

Leal Helena Ferreira1,Mamani Claudia2,Quach Caroline13,Bédard Emilie4

Affiliation:

1. Department of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Quebec, Canada

2. Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Quebec, Canada

3. Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Quebec, Canada

4. Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that antimicrobial resistance is one of the top ten global public health threats humanity is facing. To tackle this problem, it is necessary to not only address it in the hospital setting, but even more so in the community. In this context, understanding people’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards antimicrobial resistance is of utmost importance. Accordingly, we investigated whether students from the Université de Montréal (Quebec, Canada) had perceptions and behaviours that could foster bacterial resistance. METHODS: We conducted an observational, cross-sectional, prospective, and descriptive study from November 30 to December 11, 2020. We applied an online questionnaire (Google Forms) adapted from the WHO survey entitled ‘Antibiotic resistance: Multi-country public awareness survey.’ RESULTS: Overall, 106 participants were included in this study. Most of them demonstrated reasonable understanding and behaviours related to antimicrobial resistance. Erroneous response proportions ranged from 0.9% to 25.5%, except for the statement ‘Antibiotic resistance occurs when your body becomes resistant to antibiotics, and they no longer work,’ where 63.2% of participants answered that it was true, even though it is false. Regarding antibiotic use, 28.3% of participants said they already had used antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription. Of these, 55.2% were Canadian students. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates a possible misuse of antimicrobials in an area where antibiotics should not be easily accessible without a prescription. It is necessary to investigate why these medications are being used without being prescribed. Furthermore, we demonstrate a need to increase public awareness to better understand antimicrobial resistance’s theoretical basis.

Publisher

University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)

Subject

Infectious Diseases,Microbiology (medical)

Reference33 articles.

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