Awareness of Antibiotic Use and Resistance in Jordanian Community

Abstract

Background: The public awareness toward the causes and consequences of antibiotic resistance (AR) is crucial to mitigate the inappropriate use of antibiotics (ABs), particularly in the low- and middle-income countries. There was no previous study that assessed the awareness, attitude, and knowledge about antibiotic use and AR among the Jordanian public in affluent and deprived areas.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the awareness, attitude, and knowledge about antibiotic use and AR in affluent and deprived areas in Jordan.

Setting: The survey was conducted in November 2019 in Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Method: A cross-sectional questionnaire was used to survey households in their areas in each of West Amman (affluent region) and East Amman (deprived region), Households were selected using proportionate random sampling method.

Results: A total of 620 householders (310 per area) completed the questionnaire. Pharmacists were perceived as strong influencers on householders' decision, as 80.32% (n = 465/580) of those who used antibiotics in the last year follow pharmacists' advice. Our results showed poor understanding of antibiotic usage among the Jordanian public, as only 14.2% (n = 44/310) of the sample in West Amman and 2.9% (n = 9/310) in East Amman disagreed with the statement "Antibiotics work on most coughs and colds." Householders in West Amman showed much better understanding of AR compared to those in East Amman; 82.3% (n = 255/310) of West Amman respondents agreed with the statement "Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in some way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of the antibiotic." compared to 31.9% (n = 99/310) of East Amman respondents on the same statement (P < .05).

Conclusion: The Jordanian community generally had poor knowledge and awareness toward antibiotics use and AR. Socio-economic factors could influence the public's attitude toward antibiotics use and AR.

Keywords: Jordan; antibiotic resistance; attitude; public awareness; self-medicating.

Figure 1.

Responses to the statements: (A) “During the last year, I used at least an antibiotic:”. (B) “During the last year, I used antibiotics based on:”. (C) “During the last year, I used antibiotics for:”. (D) “During the last year, I used antibiotics”.