Assessment of knowledge, behaviour and awareness towards antibiotic use and resistance: a cross sectional study from south Jordanian society

Objectives This study aims to evaluate public knowledge about antibiotic use and resistance among the population in southern Jordan (a deprived region). Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out and 435 participants completed the questionnaire that contained four sections: socio-demographic information, participants' knowledge and behaviour about antibiotic use, the roles of physicians and pharmacists in antibiotic misuse and the level of participants' awareness regarding antibiotic resistance. The data were analysed using the statistical package for social science. The Chi-square test of independence was used to compare the categorical variables. Key findings Approximately 53% of the participants exhibited negative behaviour towards antibiotic use. The highest proportion was among those with an education level of middle school (73.3%), non-medical field employees (58%) and non-employee participants (60.8%). About 48.0% of the participants have a high level of knowledge and awareness about antibiotic resistance. This was more evident among those of the age group between 17 and 27 years old, who have bachelor's degrees or work in both the medical and non-medical fields. Nearly 57.5% of the participants were not asked by the physician for diagnostic tests before prescribing antibiotics, and 66.9% obtain antibiotics from the pharmacy without a prescription. Conclusions Good awareness about antibiotic resistance in the community of southern Jordan does not prevent negative behaviour of antibiotic use. Physicians and pharmacists are strong contributors to antibiotic resistance. This demonstrates the need for regulatory actions to limit the access to and overuse of antibiotics.