Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards antibiotic use in upper respiratory tract infections among patients seeking primary health care in Singapore

Autor: Adrian Zhongxian Poh, Mark I-Cheng Chen, Wei Mon Wong, Victor Weng Keong Loh, Tau Hong Lee, Fong Seng Lim, Joyce Huixin Huang, Lili Jiang, Yue Yu, Tat Yean Tham, Yee Sin Leo, Magdalene Hui Min Lee, Joash Wen Chen Chong, Ee Hui Goh, Darius Shaw Teng Pan, Chia Siong Wong
Jazyk: angličtina
Předmět:
0301 basic medicine
Adult
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Health Knowledge
Attitudes
Practice
Fever
medicine.drug_class
030106 microbiology
Antibiotics
Ethnic group
Logistic regression
Educational level
03 medical and health sciences
Young Adult
0302 clinical medicine
Residence Characteristics
Surveys and Questionnaires
Sore throat
medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Respiratory Tract Infections
Nose
Aged
Singapore
Respiratory tract infections
Primary Health Care
business.industry
Malaysia
Pharyngitis
Odds ratio
Middle Aged
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
Confidence interval
Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs)
Anti-Bacterial Agents
medicine.anatomical_structure
Cross-Sectional Studies
Family medicine
Emergency medicine
Antibiotic use
Educational Status
Female
medicine.symptom
business
Family Practice
Primary healthcare
Research Article
Zdroj: BMC Family Practice
ISSN: 1471-2296
DOI: 10.1186/s12875-016-0547-3
Popis: Background Patients’ expectations can influence antibiotic prescription by primary healthcare physicians. We assessed knowledge, attitude and practices towards antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), and whether knowledge is associated with increased expectations for antibiotics among patients visiting primary healthcare services in Singapore. Methods Data was collected through a cross-sectional interviewer-assisted survey of patients aged ≥21 years waiting to see primary healthcare practitioners for one or more symptoms suggestive of URTI (cough, sore throat, runny nose or blocked nose) for 7 days or less, covering the demographics, presenting symptoms, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of URTI and associated antibiotic use. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to assess independent factors associated with patients’ expectations for antibiotics. Results Nine hundred fourteen out of 987 eligible patients consulting 35 doctors were recruited from 24 private sector primary care clinics in Singapore. A third (307/907) expected antibiotics, of which a substantial proportion would ask the doctor for antibiotics (121/304, 40 %) and/or see another doctor (31/304, 10 %) if antibiotics were not prescribed. The majority agreed “antibiotics are effective against viruses” (715/914, 78 %) and that “antibiotics cure URTI faster” (594/912, 65 %). Inappropriate antibiotic practices include “keeping antibiotics stock at home” (125/913, 12 %), “taking leftover antibiotics” (114/913, 14 %) and giving antibiotics to family members (62/913, 7 %). On multivariate regression, the following factors were independently associated with wanting antibiotics (odds ratio; 95 % confidence interval): Malay ethnicity (1.67; 1.00–2.79), living in private housing (1.69; 1.13–2.51), presence of sore throat (1.50; 1.07–2.10) or fever (1.46; 1.01–2.12), perception that illness is serious (1.70; 1.27–2.27), belief that antibiotics cure URTI faster (5.35; 3.76–7.62) and not knowing URTI resolves on its own (2.18; 1.08–2.06), while post-secondary education (0.67; 0.48–0.94) was inversely associated. Those with lower educational levels were significantly more likely to have multiple misconceptions about antibiotics. Conclusion Majority of patients seeking primary health care in Singapore are misinformed about the role of antibiotics in URTI. Agreeing with the statement that antibiotics cure URTI faster was most strongly associated with wanting antibiotics. Those with higher educational levels were less likely to want antibiotics, while those with lower educational levels more likely to have incorrect knowledge. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12875-016-0547-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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