Parents' self-directed practices towards the use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

• Published in: BMC pediatrics Vol. 19; no. 1; p. 46
• Main Authors: Saleh Faidah, Hani, Haseeb, Abdul, Yousuf Lamfon, Majd, Mohammad Almatrafi, Malak, Abdullah Almasoudi, Imtinan, Cheema, Ejaz, Hassan Almalki, Waleed, E Elrggal, Mahmoud, M A Mohamed, Mahmoud, Saleem, Fahad, Mansour Al-Gethamy, Manal, Pervaiz, Beenish, Khan, Tahir Mehmood, Azmi Hassali, Mohamed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 04.02.2019; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Activity programs (Education); Adult; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibacterial agents; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial use; Attitudes; Care and treatment; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Drug resistance; Education; Family physicians; Female; Fever; Health care costs; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Infection; Infections; Insurance; Knowledge; Male; Medically uninsured persons; Microbial drug resistance; Middle Aged; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Parents believes; Pediatrics; Penicillin; Pharmacists; Physicians; Respiratory tract diseases; Respiratory tract infections; Respiratory Tract Infections - drug therapy; Saudi Arabia; Self Report; Sore throat; Systematic review; Upper respiratory tract infections; Young Adult; Saudi Arabia; Greece; Mecca Saudi Arabia; China; Parents believes; Upper respiratory tract infections; Antimicrobial use
• ISSN: 1471-2431; 1471-2431
• DOI: 10.1186/s12887-019-1391-0

Excessive and inappropriate antimicrobial use in the community is one risk factor that can result in the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Upper respiratory tract infections are most frequently reported among children and mainly of viral origin and do not require antibiotics. We have conducted Knowledge, Attitude and Perception (KAP) survey of parents to explore the parent's knowledge, attitude & perception of Saudi parents. A knowledge attitude perception questioner was adopted from a previous study conducted in Greece by Panagakou et al. Raosoft online sample size calculator calculated the sample size by adding the total estimated Makkah population of 5,979,719 with a response rate of 30%, 5% margin of error and 99% confidence interval. Based on the described criteria five hundred & fifty-eight was the required sample size of the study. Incomplete questioners were excluded from the statistical analysis. SPSS version 21 was used to analyse data and to produce descriptive statistics. Most of the mothers (95%) responded among parents. 67% had no health insurance to cover medications costs. Most of them (74%) were related to medium income level. Seventy per cent of the parents believed physicians as a source of information for judicious antibiotics use. Interestingly, only 8% were agreed that most of the upper respiratory tract infections are caused by viral reasons. Majority of Saudi parents (53%) expect pediatricians to prescribe antimicrobials for their children for symptoms like a cough, nose discharge, sore throat and fever. Moreover, most the parents had the poor knowledge to differentiate commonly used OTC medications for URTI and antibiotics like Augmentin (Co-amoxiclav), Ceclor (cefaclor) and Erythrocin (Erythromycin). While comparing males and female's knowledge level, few males have identified Amoxil (Amoxicillin). Similarly, parents of age 20-30 years have good knowledge about the antibiotics. Majority of Saudi parents believe in pediatricians and use antibiotics on physician's advice. Most of them expect antibiotics from their physicians as a primary treatment for upper respiratory tract infections. There is need for more educational activities to parents by the pharmacists to prevent antibiotics overuse among children.