ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Perceptions of Medical Students on Antibiotic Use and Antimicrobial Resistance: An Internet Based Survey
Anurag T Alosyous, Dhanya Sasidharan Palappallil*, Sabeena Kizhedath, Sujatha M B
JASPI March 2025 / Volume 3/Issue 1
Copyright: © Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Alosyous AT, Palappallil DS, Kizhedath S, B SM.Perceptions of Medical Students on Antibiotic Use and Antimicrobial Resistance: An Internet Based Survey. JASPI. 2025;3(1):13-19 DOI: 10.62541/jaspi057
ABSTRACT
Background: Rational antibiotic prescribing is a behaviour embedded with sound knowledge and a positive attitude. The baseline assessment of medical students’ knowledge, attitude, and practice serves as a road map for incorporating educational interventions that could translate the competency of antimicrobial stewardship into the competence of future prescribers. The objective of this study was to describe medical students’ perceptions of antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional internet-based survey conducted amongst the Phase 2 MBBS students at a Government Medical College in Central Kerala during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week. Experts prepared and validated a questionnaire with items related to medical students’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance. Participants were requested to fill out an online questionnaire using Google Forms. The data were analyzed using the Licensed version of SPSS 16.
Results: Of the 175 medical undergraduates, 164 responded with a response rate of 93.7%. All the participants had heard about antibiotics and except 2 all others knew that it was used for bacterial infections. Thirty-one (18.9%) thought that the antibiotics could treat viral infections as well. All the participants had heard of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and knew that it was a serious public health issue that is relevant globally. The majority 160(97.6%) knew that AMR emerges from the indiscriminate use of antimicrobials, thus rendering them ineffective for future use. Forty-one (25%) thought that newer and costly drugs had better efficacy than the older ones. The majority vouched that prescriptions are a must for getting antibiotics from pharmacies. Except for two, all the participants had consumed antibiotics, and 9.8% had consumed them without prescriptions.
Conclusions: Medical students understood the gravity of the AMR problem and proper antibiotic use; however, a large number of them had a negative attitude and practiced poorly. Based on the insights gained from learning the students’ perceptions, a student-centric module should be developed.
Submit a Manuscript:
Copyright © Author(s) 2025. JASPI- Journal of Antimicrobial Stewardship Practices and Infectious Diseases.