Authors
- . Akram Ahmad 1
- . Muhammad Umair Khan 1
- . Isha Patel 2
- . Sandeep Maharaj 3
- . Sureshwar Pandey 3
- . Sameer Dhingra 3
1 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2 Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Shenandoah University, Winchester, USA
3 Department of Pharmacy Practice, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of
B.Sc. Pharmacy students about usage and resistance of antibiotics in Trinidad and Tobago.
Methods: This was a cross‑sectional questionnaire‑based study involving B.Sc. Pharmacy
students. The questionnaire was divided into five components including Demographics data,
knowledge about antibiotic use, attitude toward antibiotic use and resistance, self‑antibiotic usage
and possible causes of antibiotic resistance. Data were analyzed by employing Mann–Whitney
and Chi‑square tests using SPSS version 20.
Findings: The response rate was 83.07%. The results showed good knowledge of antibiotic
use among students. The overall attitude of pharmacy students was poor. About 75% of
participants rarely use antibiotics, whereas self‑decision was the major reason of antibiotic
use (40.7%) and main source of information was retail pharmacist (42.6%). Common cold and
flu is a major problem for which antibiotics were mainly utilized by pharmacy students(35.2%).
Conclusion: The study showed good knowledge of pharmacy students regarding antibiotic
usage. However, students’ attitude towards antibiotic use was poor. The study recommends
future studies to be conducted with interventional design to improve knowledge and attitude
of pharmacy students about antibiotic use and resistance.
Keywords
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