Jakupi Arianit, Raka Denis, Kaae Susanne, Sporrong Sofia K
Faculty of Pharmacy, UBT - Higher Education Institution, Prishtina (Kosovo).
Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Medicine, University Hasan Prishtina. Prishtina (Kosovo).
Pharm Pract (Granada). 2019 Jul-Sep;17(3):1540. doi: 10.18549/PharmPract.2019.3.1540. Epub 2019 Aug 22.
Kosovo is a new state and has a high consumption of antibiotics in relation to other European countries. Existing quantitative studies have shown that practices exist that is not optimal when it comes to antibiotic use in Kosovo, this includes citizens' use of antibiotics, pharmacy practices of selling antibiotics without prescriptions and physicians' prescribing behaviours. To address these problems, there is a need for a deeper understanding of why antibiotics are handled in a suboptimal way.
The objective was to explore antibiotic users', community pharmacists' and prescribers' attitudes towards, experiences of, and knowledge about antibiotics in Kosovo.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who recently received an antibiotic prescription for an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), patients who recently received antibiotics for a URTI without a prescription, community pharmacists, and physicians. Interviews were recorded, translated into English, and analysed using deductive content analysis.
In total, 16 interviews were conducted in the period from 2015-2016. Five themes were identified: Obtaining antibiotics, Choice of antibiotics, Patient information, Patients' knowledge and views on when to use antibiotics, and Professionals' knowledge and attitudes towards antimicrobial resistance. Antibiotics were sometimes obtained without a prescription, also by patients who currently had received one. The specific antibiotic could be chosen by a physician, a pharmacist or the patient him/herself. Former experience was one reason given by patients for their choice. Patients' knowledge on antibiotics was mixed, however health professionals were knowledgeable about e.g. antimicrobial resistance.
There is currently a culture of antibiotic use in Kosovo, including attitudes and behaviours, and hence also experiences, which is possibly underlying the high consumption of antibiotics in the country. The culture is reproduced by patients, pharmacists and physicians. There is, however, an awareness of the current problematic situation among practitioners and policy makers; and as Kosovo is a new country, opportunities to effectively tackle antimicrobial resistance exist.
科索沃是一个新成立的国家，与其他欧洲国家相比，其抗生素消费量较高。现有定量研究表明，科索沃在抗生素使用方面存在一些不理想的做法，这包括公民使用抗生素、药店无处方销售抗生素的行为以及医生的处方行为。为解决这些问题，有必要更深入地了解抗生素使用不当的原因。
旨在探究科索沃抗生素使用者、社区药剂师和开处方者对抗生素的态度、经验和知识。
对近期因上呼吸道感染（URTI）接受抗生素处方的患者、近期无处方接受URTI抗生素治疗的患者、社区药剂师和医生进行了半结构式访谈。访谈进行了录音，翻译成英文，并采用演绎性内容分析法进行分析。
2015年至2016年期间共进行了16次访谈。确定了五个主题：获取抗生素、抗生素的选择、患者信息、患者关于何时使用抗生素的知识和观点以及专业人员对抗菌药物耐药性的知识和态度。有时无需处方就能获得抗生素，目前正在接受抗生素治疗的患者也会这样做。具体的抗生素可以由医生、药剂师或患者自己选择。患者选择抗生素的一个原因是既往经验。患者对抗生素的了解参差不齐，然而卫生专业人员对抗菌药物耐药性等方面知识丰富。
科索沃目前存在一种抗生素使用文化，包括态度和行为，因此也包括相关经验，这可能是该国抗生素高消费量的潜在原因。这种文化由患者、药剂师和医生传播。然而，从业者和政策制定者已经意识到当前存在的问题；而且由于科索沃是一个新国家，存在有效应对抗菌药物耐药性的机会。
