A survey on parent's knowledge on antibiotic resistance upon self-medication in children of Dhaka city

Abstract

The increased rate of prevalence and associated risk of antibiotic resistance in children is an important issue to consider in the global world lately. The consequences fall on both the children and the parents and it may increase the rate of multiplication of bacterial infection although in the presence of adequate therapeutic level of antibiotics. The aim of the present study was to determine parents’ knowledge on antibiotic resistance in children of Dhaka city in Bangladesh. This prospective study included parents of 128 children. They were surveyed with a standard, structured questionnaire. In this study, we have found that 49 of the respondents believed that antibiotic resistance is promoted by unnecessary use of antibiotics, whereas 32 disagreed and 13 had no idea about it. Moreover, 62 of the respondents agreed to the consequences of promoting antibiotic resistance by not completing the full course therapy; 23 of them didn’t agree or disagree and 15 of them didn’t know. In addition, 44 of the respondents didn’t believe that antibiotic resistance in grown by self-medication, whereas 22 of them didn’t have any idea. Again, 47 of the respondents agreed to the statement that antibiotic resistance is promoted by using antibiotics with other drugs simultaneously, while 35 of them didn’t agree or disagree and 19 of them didn’t know anything. About 52 of the respondents agreed to treat their children with antibiotics in viral infection with fever, but 34 of them had no idea of that. Later, it was found that 46 of the respondents believed that antibiotics will always be effective in the treatment of same infection in future, while 35 of them didn’t know. In this situation, it is essential to build awareness among the parents about the consequences and drawbacks of self-medicating with antibiotics for the treatment of their children, which will ultimately trigger a better outcome in future. Control and regulation of self-medication of antibiotics is also required so that the children can acquire better treatment and lead a healthy life afterwards