Authors : Shanmukananda P, Veena D R, Shwetha H
DOI : 10.18231/j.ijpp.2019.029
Volume : 6
Issue : 4
Year : 2019
Page No : 142-144
Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent and serious global health problem demanding considerable attention from healthcare professionals all over the world.
Objective: To evaluate knowledge and attitude regarding antibiotic resistance as well as the practice of self medication of antibiotics among second year medical students.
Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire based study conducted by the staff of the Department of Pharmacology at Dr B R Ambedkar Medical College, Bangalore during April- May 2018.70 second year MBBS students participated in this study.
Results: 92.8% (n = 65) of respondents agreed that antibiotic resistance is an important and serious public health issue in the hospital. 31.42% (n = 22) were of the opinion that antibiotic abuse was the main cause for bacterial resistance.30% (n=21) never preferred to take antibiotics for cough and sore throat. The number of respondents who completed the full course of treatment with antibiotics were 55.7% (n=39).
Conclusion: In our study, most of the students had good knowledge and aware of the problem of antimicrobial resistance, but still used antibiotics for self medication. This shows inadequate adherence to antibiotic policies among the study population warranting periodic training and the need for an effective antibiotic stewardship in medical colleges.
Keywords: Antibiotics, Self medication, Antibiotic resistance, Knowledge, Practice.