Knowledge, attitude and practice about antibiotic use, self-medication and antibiotic resistance among final year medical students and interns at a medical college in Lalitpur, Nepal

Abstract

Background:Antibiotic resistance is a global crisis posing a considerable threat, especially, to developing countries and can cause 10 million deaths by 2050. Medical students as future doc­tors play an essential role in promoting the rational use of antibiotics. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the respondents’ knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) regarding an­tibiotic use, antibiotic self-medication, and antibiotic resistance and compare the KAP among different subgroups of respondents at KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among final year medical students and interns from Sep­tember to October 2019. A structured questionnaire with 22 statements for assessing knowledge, 13 statements for attitude and 12 statements for practice was used as a data collection tool. Differ­ences in the KAP scores among different subgroups were studied using appropriate statistical tests.

Results: A total of 131 respondents participated, and 76(58%) were female. Most were from the Brahmin ethnic group 54(41.2%) while 82(62.6%) had relatives in the medical field. Ninety-three (71%) were final year medical students and 38(29%) were medical interns. The knowledge scores were high (76) among most subgroups of respondents. The attitude score was 58 out of 65 and prac­tice score was 6 out of 12. Knowledge scores were higher among female respondents, and practice scores were higher among interns (p=0.002).

Conclusions: The study showed good knowledge and attitude regarding antibiotics among the final year medical students and the interns. Interns were found to have a better practice than the final year students for using antibiotics rationally.