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. 2025 Aug 16;14(3):22799036251365577.
doi: 10.1177/22799036251365577. eCollection 2025 Jul.

Public knowledge attitudes and practices toward antibiotic use among the adult Sudanese community: A cross-sectional descriptive study

Sigood Omran  1 , Musab Kheyar  1 , Nafisa Alfatih  1 , Ali Abdelatti  1 , Marwa F Alamin  2 , Yousif B Hamadalneel  3
Affiliations

Public knowledge attitudes and practices toward antibiotic use among the adult Sudanese community: A cross-sectional descriptive study

Sigood Omran et al. J Public Health Res. .

Abstract

Background: The growth and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria have become a major global concern, posing a serious threat to public health in the 21st century. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate public knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward antibiotic use.

Design and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used. The study was conducted at the Wad Medani locality, Gezira state, Sudan, from December 2022 to March 2023. Any citizen >18 years from the Wad Medani locality with at least 3 months of residency was included in the study.

Results: A total of 420 questionnaires were distributed and collected. A total of 253 (56%) of the participants were in the 18-30 year age group, 242 (57%) were male, 254 (60.6%) were at the university level, and 254 (61.2%) had a medical background. Overall, 183 (43.5%) and 172 (41%) participants demonstrated poor knowledge and practice, respectively. However, 236 (56.2%) of the participants agreed that using antibiotics when they are not necessary leads to antibiotic resistance, and 334 (79.5%) believed that antibiotics accelerate recovery from the common cold and coughs.

Conclusions: Our findings revealed that the majority of Sudanese people have inadequate knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward antibiotics. Most of the participants believed that antibiotics accelerated their recovery from the common cold and cough. Therefore, community leaders and local influencers could be engaged to spread awareness about antibiotic resistance and address misconceptions about antibiotics. In addition, enforcing stricter regulations on pharmacies to prevent the sale of antibiotics without a valid prescription.

Keywords: antibiotic use; attitudes; practices; public knowledge; self-medication.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

The image is a bar chart showing participant knowledge: 30.8% good, 25.7% moderate, 43.5% poor.
Figure 1.
The overall categories of participants’ knowledge toward antibiotic use.
Using incorrect antibiotics is often associated with antibiotic resistance, which could be linked to misuse or overuse, indicating a connection between knowledge and practice
Figure 2.
Knowledge of the study participants about antibiotic use.
The bar graph displays the distribution of participants’ attitudes toward antibiotic use, categorized into ‘Good’ (20.3%), ‘Moderate’ (38.7%), and ‘Poor’ (41%) levels.
Figure 3.
The overall categories of participants’ attitudes and practices toward antibiotic use.
Study shows varied antibiotic usage habits among participants
Figure 4.
Attitudes and practices of the study participants toward antibiotic use.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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