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Multicenter Study
. 2024 Apr 26;13(1):47.
doi: 10.1186/s13756-024-01400-w.

Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of Latin American healthcare workers relating to antibiotic stewardship and antibiotic use: a cross-sectional multi-country study

Valeria Fabre  1 , Sara E Cosgrove  2 , Fernanda C Lessa  3 , Twisha S Patel  3 , Guadalupe Reyes-Morales  2 , Washington R Aleman  4 , Andrea Alvarado Alvarez  5 , Bowen Aquiles  6 , Ana B Arauz  7   8 , Facundo Arguello  9 , Maria Fernanda Barberis  10 , Laura Barcan  9 , Maria P Bernachea  11 , Marisa L Bernan  12 , Carlos Buitrago  13 , Maria Del Carmen Bangher  14 , Ximena Castañeda  15 , Angel M Colque  16 , Alfredo Canton  13 , Rosa Contreras  17 , Silvia Correa  18 , Gustavo Costilla Campero  19 , Lidia Espinola  20 , Clara Esquivel  21 , Cecilia Ezcurra  22 , Leandro A Falleroni  23 , Johana Fernandez  24 , Sandra Ferrari  24 , Natalia Frassone  25 , Carlos Garcia Cruz  6 , Maria Isabel Garzón  26 , Carlos H Gomez Quintero  15   27 , José A Gonzalez  28 , Lucrecia Guaymas  29 , Fausto Guerrero-Toapanta  30 , Sandra Lambert  20 , Diego Laplume  10 , Paola R Lazarte  31 , César G Lemir  32 , Angelica Lopez  4 , Itzel L Lopez  33 , Herberth Maldonado  5 , Guadalupe Martinez  32 , Diego M Maurizi  34 , Mario Melgar  35 , Florencia Mesplet  36 , Carlos Morales Pertuz  37 , Cristina Moreno  38 , Gabriela L Moya  11 , Yanina Nuccetelli  39 , Glendys Núñez  8 , Carolina Osuna  40 , Belén Palacio  41 , Florencia Pellice  17 , Carla Raffo  18 , Fanny Reino Choto  30 , Gerardo Ricoy  16 , Viviana Rodriguez  22 , Federico Romero  41 , Juan J Romero  42 , Maria Eugenia Russo  12 , Graciela Sadino  25 , Nancy Sandoval  35 , Mirta G Silva  40 , Alejandra M Urueña  31 , Ligia Vence Reyes  43 , Hugo Videla  39 , Marisol Valle  34 , Silvia Vera Amate Perez  19 , Hernan Vergara-Samur  27 , Silvina Villamandos  14 , Olmedo Villarreal  28 , Alejandra Viteri  36 , Eduardo Warley  29 , Rodolfo E Quiros  44
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of Latin American healthcare workers relating to antibiotic stewardship and antibiotic use: a cross-sectional multi-country study

Valeria Fabre et al. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control. .

Abstract

Background: The burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Latin America is high. Little is known about healthcare workers' (HCWs) knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of antimicrobial stewardship (AS), AMR, and antibiotic use (AU) in the region.

Methods: HCWs from 42 hospitals from 5 Latin American countries were invited to take an electronic, voluntary, anonymous survey regarding knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of AS, AMR, and AU between March-April 2023.

Findings: Overall, 996 HCWs completed the survey (52% physicians, 32% nurses, 11% pharmacists, 3% microbiologists, and 2% "other"). More than 90% of respondents indicated optimizing AU was a priority at their healthcare facility (HCF), 69% stated the importance of AS was communicated at their HCF, and 23% were unfamiliar with the term "antibiotic stewardship". Most (> 95%) respondents acknowledged that appropriate AU can reduce AMR; however, few thought AU (< 30%) or AMR (< 50%) were a problem in their HCF. Lack of access to antibiogram and to locally endorsed guidelines was reported by 51% and 34% of HCWs, respectively. Among prescribers, 53% did not consider non-physicians' opinions to make antibiotic-related decisions, 22% reported not receiving education on how to select antibiotics based on culture results and 60% stated patients and families influence their antibiotic decisions.

Conclusions: Although HCWs perceived improving AU as a priority, they did not perceive AU or AMR as a problem in their HCF. AS opportunities include improved access to guidelines, access to AMR/AU data, teamwork, and education on AS for HCWs and patients and families.

Keywords: Antibiotic; Latin America; Stewardship.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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