Abstract

ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF ANTIBIOTIC USE AMONG THE PATIENTS IN TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL, DAVANGERE

Santosh Uttangi, J. S. Venkatesh, Lekshmy Santhosh, Lincy Daniel*, Mohammed Ashfaq Bankapur and Namitha Anna Shibu

Abstract

Antibiotics are the most frequently prescribed group of drugs in a developing country like India. The misuse of antibiotic is particularly striking in India. The impact of knowledge, attitude and practice of general public on antibiotic use is important to prevent misuse of antibiotic and antibiotic resistance. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotic use among patients in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Data was collected from a cross Sectional questionnaire based survey from patients who were admitted in government Chigateri District Hospital Davangere. A total of 200 questionnaires was reviewed and analysed. In our study patients were divided into four age groups 18-34(27.5%), 35-49(24%), 52- 64(24.5%) and >65 (24%), 78.5% of the participants were married and 21.5% were unmarried. 23.5% of the participants were uneducated where as 22% had only primary level of education and 54.5% of the participants had at least high school level of education and more. In our study females had a higher level of knowledge about antibiotics than males but males showed better attitude and practice compared to females. The participants in the age group 18-34 and 35-49 showed better knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards antibiotic use than the other age groups. Our study point out that higher education is positively associated with better attitude, knowledge and practice towards antibiotic use. The results of this study provided important information for assessing and improving the public’s understanding of antibiotics.

Keywords: Antibiotics, Public knowledge, Attitude, practice, KAP, Questionnaire survey, Antibiotic resistance.