Impact of the ´Alforja Educativa’ on Ecuadorian schoolchildren’s knowledge of bacteria, antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance, a pretest-posttest study

Autor: Ambar Célleri-Gomezcoello, Caroline Avila, Silvina Alessio, Celina M. Hanson, Andrea Ochoa, Miriann Mora, Liliana Arciniegas, Bronwen Holloway, Maria Pränting, Daniela Encalada
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: BMC Public Health, Vol 24, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-18340-0
Popis: Abstract Background Widespread use of antibiotics disrupts the balance in the microbial world and promotes development and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Educational initiatives are important as part of strategies to mitigate antibiotic resistance. The Alforja Educativa is an innovative educational program developed in Ecuador with the aim to teach schoolchildren about antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. The program places antibiotic resistance within a broader frame of health, well-being, and ecological awareness, highlighting the importance to maintain balance in the microbial world. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the Alforja Educativa on knowledge about bacteria, antibiotics and antibiotic resistance amongst fifth and sixth grade Ecuadorian schoolchildren. Methods This pretest-posttest intervention study was conducted between April and June 2017 and comprised fifth and sixth grade schoolchildren from 20 schools in Cuenca, Ecuador, recruited by purposeful sampling. The Alforja Educativa was implemented over twelve 80-minute sessions by trained university students. Schoolchildren’s knowledge was assessed before and after participation in the educational program using a structured questionnaire. A mean total score, the proportion of correct responses for each individual knowledge-based question, as well as correct responses for each of the multiple-choice options of the knowledge-based questions were calculated for the pretest and posttest. Results A total of 1,257 schoolchildren participated in the Alforja Educativa program, of which 980 (78%) completed both the pretest and posttest. Overall, the mean total knowledge score increased from pretest to posttest (2.58/7.00 vs. 3.85/7.00; CI = 0.5, p
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