Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Center for Drug Safety and Policy Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 1;18(3):1320. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031320.
Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is an emerging global threat to public health. Substantial evidence has indicated that community pharmacists (CPs) can play a critical role in managing the ever-increasing threat of antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of CPs ( = 180) towards antibiotics and antibiotic resistance as well as to improve the rational use of antibiotics. A two-phase mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) online study was conducted in Pakistan from August 2019 to March 2020 by using validated questionnaires and semi-structured interview data. Different statistical methods were used to tabulate the quantitative data, whereas inductive thematic analysis was conducted to categorize themes from the qualitative data and to draw conclusions. Approximately 64.4% of the CPs were male (mean: 29-33 years old). Overall, CPs had good knowledge of and were familiar with multidrug-resistant organisms and their roles in ABR (65.6%, median = 1, and IQR = 1), although their knowledge was poor in differentiating some antibiotic groups with their respective ABR patterns (31.1%, median = 1, and IQR = 1). Most CPs have a positive attitude towards antibiotics, with most (90.0%) identifying ABR as a critical issue in public health (median = 1 and IQR = 0). Overall, CPs' practices towards antibiotics were somewhat acceptable, where they leaned towards educating patients about the rational use of antibiotics (52.8%, median = 1, and IQR = 1). The two main themes discovered (antibiotics and counseling of patients) were related to self-medication, while educational intervention is the main subtheme. ABR is multifactorial, with subthemes related to budget, time constraints, incompetent staff, the absence of CPs, the lack of training, and the enforcement of laws and regulations being the needs of the hour in Pakistan. Effective antibiotic stewardship programs, patient education, and awareness campaigns about antibiotics and ABR along with training of the CPs are important factors that have to be addressed in a timely manner.
抗生素耐药性（ABR）是对全球公共健康的新兴威胁。大量证据表明，社区药剂师（CPs）可以在管理抗生素耐药性日益严重的威胁方面发挥关键作用。本研究旨在确定 CPs（=180）对抗生素和抗生素耐药性的知识、态度和实践，以提高抗生素的合理使用。本研究采用经过验证的问卷和半结构化访谈数据，于 2019 年 8 月至 2020 年 3 月在巴基斯坦进行了两阶段混合方法（定量和定性）在线研究。使用不同的统计方法对定量数据进行制表，而采用归纳主题分析对定性数据进行分类并得出结论。大约 64.4%的 CPs 是男性（平均年龄：29-33 岁）。总体而言，CPs 对抗生素耐药性多药耐药生物体及其在 ABR 中的作用有很好的了解和熟悉（65.6%，中位数=1，IQR=1），尽管他们在区分某些具有各自 ABR 模式的抗生素组方面知识较差（31.1%，中位数=1，IQR=1）。大多数 CPs 对抗生素持积极态度，大多数（90.0%）认为 ABR 是公共卫生中的一个关键问题（中位数=1，IQR=0）。总体而言，CPs 对抗生素的使用实践有些可以接受，他们倾向于教育患者关于抗生素的合理使用（52.8%，中位数=1，IQR=1）。发现的两个主要主题（抗生素和患者咨询）与自我用药有关，而教育干预是主要的次主题。ABR 是多因素的，与预算、时间限制、员工能力不足、缺乏 CPs、缺乏培训以及法律法规的执行等次主题有关，是巴基斯坦当前的需求。有效的抗生素管理计划、患者教育以及有关抗生素和 ABR 的宣传活动以及 CPs 的培训是必须及时解决的重要因素。
