Wahab Abrar, Alam Mohammad Morshad, Hasan Shahriar, Halder Sangeeta, Ullah Md Obayed, Hossain Ahmed
Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Department of Public Health, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Heliyon. 2023 Sep 11;9(9):e19923. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19923. eCollection 2023 Sep.
Self-medication with antibiotics is a growing public health concern. Antibiotics are easily accessible on requested from pharmacies throughout the majority of developing countries. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics among university students in Bangladesh, as well as to evaluate their knowledge and practices related to antibiotics and its resistance. A structured questionnaire was administered to 1000 students over a month in January 2022 at three universities of Bangladesh. The results showed that 61.0% of the participants had self-medicated with antibiotics in the last six months. In regards to the participants' level of knowledge and practice, a significant proportion, 60.0% exhibited a substandard understanding of antibiotic resistance and appropriate antibiotic usage. Male students (61.7%) were found to self-medicate more often than female students (38.3%). The highest prevalence of self-medication was observed in the age group of 22-25 years (32.2%). The most common reasons for self-medication were previous experience with the illness (40.9%) and the belief that the illness was not serious (36.2%). The most common illnesses for which self-medication was practiced were fever (40.9%) and cough and cold (29.3%). During multivariate logistic regression analyses age, gender, maintaining diet chart, and habit of exercising regularly were found to be associated with the increased risk of self-medication with antibiotics. The study highlighted the critical need for targeted interventions to promote responsible antibiotic use, enhance knowledge about antibiotic resistance, and discourage self-medication among university students in Bangladesh. Addressing these factors would enable the government to mitigate risks associated with self-medication, prevent antibiotic resistance, and alleviate the burden on health and the economy at large.
自行服用抗生素正日益引起公众对健康的关注。在大多数发展中国家，只要有需求，抗生素在药店很容易买到。本研究旨在确定孟加拉国大学生自行服用抗生素的流行情况，并评估他们对抗生素及其耐药性的知识和做法。2022年1月，在孟加拉国的三所大学，用一个月时间对1000名学生进行了结构化问卷调查。结果显示，61.0%的参与者在过去六个月中自行服用过抗生素。在参与者的知识和实践水平方面，很大一部分人（60.0%）对抗生素耐药性和正确使用抗生素的理解不合格。发现男学生（61.7%）比女学生（38.3%）更常自行用药。自行用药发生率最高的年龄组是22 - 25岁（32.2%）。自行用药最常见的原因是以前得过这种病（40.9%）以及认为病情不严重（36.2%）。自行用药最常见的疾病是发烧（40.9%）和咳嗽感冒（29.3%）。在多因素逻辑回归分析中，发现年龄、性别、保持饮食图表和定期锻炼的习惯与自行服用抗生素风险增加有关。该研究强调了有针对性干预措施的迫切需求，以促进负责任地使用抗生素，增强对抗生素耐药性的认识，并劝阻孟加拉国大学生自行用药。解决这些因素将使政府能够降低与自行用药相关的风险，预防抗生素耐药性，并减轻总体健康和经济负担。
