Understanding of Pharmacy Students towards Antibiotic Use, Antibiotic Resistance and Antibiotic Stewardship Programs: A Cross-Sectional Study from Punjab, Pakistan
Khezar Hayat,
Shazia Jamshed,
Meagen Rosenthal,
Noman Ul Haq,
Jie Chang,
Muhammad Fawad Rasool,
Usman Rashid Malik,
Anees Ur Rehman,
Kashif Maqbool Khan,
Yu Fang
Affiliations
Khezar Hayat
Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Shazia Jamshed
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu 22200, Malaysia
Meagen Rosenthal
Department of Pharmacy Administration, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS 38677, USA
Noman Ul Haq
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Balochistan, Quetta 87900, Pakistan
Jie Chang
Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Muhammad Fawad Rasool
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Usman Rashid Malik
Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Anees Ur Rehman
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
Kashif Maqbool Khan
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Yu Fang
Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is a significant issue for public health globally. An adequate understanding of ABR and the approaches used to tackle ABR, including antibiotic stewardship programs, are vital. This study aimed to get an insight into antibiotic use, ABR, and antibiotic stewardship programs among pharmacy students of Punjab, Pakistan. This multicenter study was undertaken among final (fifth) year undergraduate pharmacy students of 7 universities of Punjab, Pakistan. A paper-based self-administered questionnaire comprising 48-items was utilized for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis. This study included a total of 296 respondents with a response rate of 85.8%. Most of the students had an average understanding of antibiotic use (59.8%), ABR (42.6%), ABR mechanisms (48.0%), and factors of ABR (51.7%). Only 21.6% of students have heard about antibiotic stewardship programs. More than half of the students believed that educating and training healthcare professionals (53.4%) and medical students (57.8%) about the prescribing and judicial usage of antibiotics could reduce the ABR burden. The awareness of most of the pharmacy students about certain aspects of antibiotic use, ABR, and stewardship programs was suboptimal.
