Community awareness, perceptions, and behavior regarding antibiotic consumption in an urban area of Pondicherry

Background: Inappropriate use of antimicrobials is one of the important contributing factors for antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The role of the community in the development of AMR is very significant and needs to be understood. The study aimed to determine the level of awareness, perception, and be...

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Main Authors: C. Niranjhanadevi, P. Stalin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2024-01-01
Series:Journal of Current Research in Scientific Medicine
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Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jcrsm.jcrsm_14_24
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author C. Niranjhanadevi
P. Stalin
author_facet C. Niranjhanadevi
P. Stalin
author_sort C. Niranjhanadevi
collection DOAJ
description Background: Inappropriate use of antimicrobials is one of the important contributing factors for antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The role of the community in the development of AMR is very significant and needs to be understood. The study aimed to determine the level of awareness, perception, and behavior regarding antibiotic usage among the community members and to identify the association between sociodemographic factors and knowledge. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among adults in an urban area of Pondicherry. Eligible study participants were selected by multistage random sampling and interviewed through a house-to-house survey using a structured questionnaire using Epicollect5 software. The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee (RC/2022/07). Student’s t-test and ANOVA were used to calculate P values. Results: Among 440 study participants, 286 (65%) said that they had ever heard of a type of medicine called antibiotics. Among them, more than 70% of participants were aware that antibiotics are used for killing germs but almost all said that antibiotics are often needed for cold and flu illnesses. 83.2% opined that they should take antibiotics to prevent getting a serious illness. 42.3% of the study participants never completed a full course of antibiotic treatment after feeling better with a few doses. Participants with higher education and upper socioeconomic status had better knowledge than others. Conclusion: Overall knowledge of the study participants was found to be inadequate. Most of the study participants did not have a correct attitude toward the use of antibiotics. The majority of the study participants were not following appropriate practices toward the use of antibiotics.
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spelling doaj-art-0145d3d098b44a4d9a8b076d942a53922025-01-23T05:24:08ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Current Research in Scientific Medicine2542-62732455-30692024-01-01101253010.4103/jcrsm.jcrsm_14_24Community awareness, perceptions, and behavior regarding antibiotic consumption in an urban area of PondicherryC. NiranjhanadeviP. StalinBackground: Inappropriate use of antimicrobials is one of the important contributing factors for antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The role of the community in the development of AMR is very significant and needs to be understood. The study aimed to determine the level of awareness, perception, and behavior regarding antibiotic usage among the community members and to identify the association between sociodemographic factors and knowledge. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among adults in an urban area of Pondicherry. Eligible study participants were selected by multistage random sampling and interviewed through a house-to-house survey using a structured questionnaire using Epicollect5 software. The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee (RC/2022/07). Student’s t-test and ANOVA were used to calculate P values. Results: Among 440 study participants, 286 (65%) said that they had ever heard of a type of medicine called antibiotics. Among them, more than 70% of participants were aware that antibiotics are used for killing germs but almost all said that antibiotics are often needed for cold and flu illnesses. 83.2% opined that they should take antibiotics to prevent getting a serious illness. 42.3% of the study participants never completed a full course of antibiotic treatment after feeling better with a few doses. Participants with higher education and upper socioeconomic status had better knowledge than others. Conclusion: Overall knowledge of the study participants was found to be inadequate. Most of the study participants did not have a correct attitude toward the use of antibiotics. The majority of the study participants were not following appropriate practices toward the use of antibiotics.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jcrsm.jcrsm_14_24antimicrobial agentsawarenessbehaviordrug utilizationperception
spellingShingle C. Niranjhanadevi
P. Stalin
Community awareness, perceptions, and behavior regarding antibiotic consumption in an urban area of Pondicherry
Journal of Current Research in Scientific Medicine
antimicrobial agents
awareness
behavior
drug utilization
perception
title Community awareness, perceptions, and behavior regarding antibiotic consumption in an urban area of Pondicherry
title_full Community awareness, perceptions, and behavior regarding antibiotic consumption in an urban area of Pondicherry
title_fullStr Community awareness, perceptions, and behavior regarding antibiotic consumption in an urban area of Pondicherry
title_full_unstemmed Community awareness, perceptions, and behavior regarding antibiotic consumption in an urban area of Pondicherry
title_short Community awareness, perceptions, and behavior regarding antibiotic consumption in an urban area of Pondicherry
title_sort community awareness perceptions and behavior regarding antibiotic consumption in an urban area of pondicherry
topic antimicrobial agents
awareness
behavior
drug utilization
perception
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jcrsm.jcrsm_14_24
work_keys_str_mv AT cniranjhanadevi communityawarenessperceptionsandbehaviorregardingantibioticconsumptioninanurbanareaofpondicherry
AT pstalin communityawarenessperceptionsandbehaviorregardingantibioticconsumptioninanurbanareaofpondicherry