Students' Practices and Knowledge on Antimicrobial Usage and Resistance in Split, Croatia: The Education of Future Prescribers

• Published in: Microbial drug resistance (Larchmont, N.Y.) Vol. 26; no. 6; p. 623
• Main Authors: Cikes, Mihaela, Vrdoljak, Laura, Buljan, Ivan, Mudnic, Ivana, Vukojevic, Katarina, Medvedec Mikic, Ivana, Kostic, Sandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.06.2020
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anti-Infective Agents - therapeutic use; Attitude of Health Personnel; Croatia; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Male; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Students, Dental; Students, Health Occupations - statistics & numerical data; Students, Medical; Students, Pharmacy; Young Adult; Croatia; guidelines; survey; medical education; antimicrobial resistance; medical students; antimicrobial usage
• ISSN: 1931-8448
• DOI: 10.1089/mdr.2019.0238

To evaluate the effect of biomedical students' ongoing education, we assessed their knowledge and attitudes toward antimicrobial use. A cross-sectional study was carried out among the students of four study programs: Medicine in Croatian, Medicine in English, Dental medicine, and Pharmacy. The anonymous questionnaire was distributed to students who attended classes from April to May 2018. A total of 947 (86%) out of 1,107 students enrolled at the University of Split School of Medicine participated in this study. A third of dental students (51/159) and a quarter of medical (113/458) and pharmacy students (32/130) believed that paracetamol was an antibiotic that reduces pain. However, the percentage significantly decreased from the first to the final years. Only 31% of the final year dental medicine students (5/16) named a correct guideline for the usage of antimicrobial drugs, 23% of medical students (18/78), and none in the English program. Pharmacy students were the most informed, since 76% of the final year students (16/21) named Intersectoral Coordination Mechanism for the Control of Antimicrobial Resistance (ISKRA) guidelines. The students showed poor knowledge on the use of guidelines for antibiotic use, highlighting the need for changes in the existing curricula, including a more effective course on antimicrobial prescribing.