OBJECTIVE

To assess the awareness and causes of antibiotics use and misuse in patients with upper respiratory tract infections.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from January 2014 to December 2015, and comprised patients suffering from upper respiratory tract infections. A well-established, self-administrated questionnaire was randomly distributed to the patients. The questionnaire consisted of 3 parts: demographic variables, knowledge, and beliefs, and behaviour towards antibiotic use and misuse. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Of the 400 participants, 193(48.25%) were males and 207(51.75%) were females. Besides, 182(45.5%) participants used antibiotics without prescription (p=0.050) and 43(10.8%) used the mover a pharmacist's advice (p=0.030). Also, 69(17.3%) participants forced the physicians to prescribe antibiotic (p=0.014), and 207(51.7%) patients stopped taking antibiotics when they felt better (p=0.007). Moreover, 180(45%) had the antibiotic stocks at home in case of emergencies. In addition, 67(16.8%) were ignoring the instructions when taking antibiotics (p=0.004). Furthermore, 48(12%) participants denied that an antibiotic could cause an allergic reaction (p=0.054) and the same number of participants believed that the effectiveness of the treatment would not be affected if a full course of antibiotic was not completed (p=0.029). In addition, 29(7.3%) participants with high educational level believed that all antibiotics did not have side-effects (p=0.002) and 71(17.8%) of them believed that if symptoms were improving the antibiotic course could be interrupted without completing (p=0.037).

CONCLUSIONS

Misconceptions existed about the use and indications of antibiotics.