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Respiratory infection
Perceptions of medical students towards antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory tract infections in Saudi Arabia
  1. Steve Harakeh1,
  2. Musab Almatrafi2,
  3. Haifa Ungapen3,
  4. Rotana Hammad4,
  5. Feras Olayan5,
  6. Reema Hakim6,
  7. Mohammed Ayoub7,
  8. Noura Bakhsh5,
  9. Saad B Almasaudi8,
  10. Elie Barbour9,
  11. Suhad Bahijri10,
  12. Esam Azhar1,
  13. Ghazi Damanhouri10,
  14. Yousef Qari11,
  15. Taha Kumosani12,
  16. Zeena Harakeh13,
  17. Muhammad S Ahmad14 and
  18. JochenW L Cals15
  1. 1Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  2. 2Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affair, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  3. 3Manchester, UK
  4. 4Department of Pediatric, King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  5. 5Medical School, Umm Alqura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
  6. 6Department of Family Medicine, National Guard Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  7. 7Department of Pediatric, National Guard Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  8. 8Biology Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  9. 9Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, American University of Beirut, Lebanon; Adjunct to Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Production of Bioproducts for Industrial Application Research Group, King Abdulaziz Univeristy, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  10. 10King Fahd Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  11. 11Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  12. 12Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Experimental Biochemistry Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  13. 13Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  14. 14Drug Metabolism Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  15. 15Department of Family Medicine, School of Primary Care and Public Health (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  1. Correspondence to Professor Steve Harakeh; Sharakeh{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Introduction This survey evaluates knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical students towards use of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections (URTIs).

Methodology Cross-sectional questionnaire study among 1042 randomly selected medical students in Saudi Arabia.

Results Respondents were mostly Saudis (97.5%), had previous knowledge of antibiotics (99.7%) and their usage (98.3%) against bacterial infections (93.7%). 18.1% thought that they could be used for viral infections. Nearly all students (97.2%) used antibiotics themselves during the previous year and self-medication without a prescription was high at 49% of cases. Most antibiotics were taken for URTI symptoms (61.8%). Female medical students had better knowledge on antibiotic effectiveness against bacteria and viruses, and overall knowledge increased with study year. Health seeking behaviour rates for symptoms of RTI and associated estimated necessity for antibiotics varied but were highest for cough with yellow/green phlegm.

Conclusions The depth of knowledge that healthcare professionals have in relation to the proper use of antibiotics is essential in spreading the right message within communities. This is the first large study among medical students in Saudi Arabia, shedding important light on areas for improvement in the medical curriculum as well as antibiotic practices of medical students themselves.

  • Bacterial Infection
  • Health Economist
  • Pleural Disease
  • Respiratory Infection
  • Viral infection

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2014-000078

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