A Questionnaire based Survey on the Knowledge, Attitude and Practises about Antimicrobial Resistance and Usage among the Second year MBBS Students of a Teaching tertiary care Hospital in Central India

Abstract

Antimicrobial agents are one of the most commonly used as well as misused drugs. 1 They were viewed as magical bullets when first introduced into clinical practice.However it became evident rather soon after the discovery of penicillin that resistance developed quickly, terminating the magic.This serious development is ever present with each new antimicrobial agent and threatens the end of the antimicrobial era.This is mostly aided by irrational practices of healthcare professionals that fail to incorporate the pharmacological properties of antimicrobials, as well as indiscriminate use of antibiotics. 2Overprescribing remains widespread, driven largely by diagnostic uncertainty, patient demand and time pressure on clinicians.Rational antibiotic use is thought to be the best way to control resistance.Thus, it has been emphasised that adequate training should be provided for the undergraduate medical students regarding the proper prescribing, dispensing and the usage of antibiotics.This important measure will help to promote the judicious use of antibiotics. 3o, this study was undertaken among second year undergraduate medical students, in order to assess their knowledge and attitude concerning antibiotic resistance and self reported practices which are related to antibiotic usage. Subjects and Methods Study designThis study was a cross-sectional, questionnaire based survey which was undertaken in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics of a teaching hospital in Central India conducted between June 2014 and July 2014.The questionnaire which we used was developed by modifying the earlier ones which were used by Wester et al 4 , Eng et al 5 , and others [6][7][8][9] with prior permission.The questionnaire was validated by subject experts for its content and relevance.