Evaluation of healthcare students' knowledge on antibiotic use, antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship programs and associated factors in a tertiary university in Ghana : findings and implications

Sefah, Israel Abebrese and Akwaboah, Emmanuel and Sarkodie, Emmanuel and Godman, Brian and Meyer, Johanna Caterina (2022) Evaluation of healthcare students' knowledge on antibiotic use, antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship programs and associated factors in a tertiary university in Ghana : findings and implications. Antibiotics, 11 (12). 1679. ISSN 2079-6382 (https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11121679)

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Abstract

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a major public health problem globally, and Ghana is no exception. Good knowledge regarding antibiotic use, AMR and the concept of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is critical among healthcare students to curb rising AMR rates in the future. Consequently, a need to ascertain this. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken among fifth-year pharmacy, medical students and fourth (final)-year nursing and physician assistantship students at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ghana to assess their knowledge on antibiotic use, AMR and AMS using a web-based self-administered structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Fishers’ exact test and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed. 160 healthcare students were interviewed of which 56.3% (n=90) were male and 58.8% (n=94) were in their fourth year of study. Good knowledge of antibiotic use, AMR and AMS was associated with the study course (p=0.001) and the number of years of study (p