Knowledge and Attitude of University Students on Antibiotics: A Cross-sectional Study in Malaysia

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic resistance has become one of the major global health threats. The lack of knowledge on antibiotics contributes to the indiscriminate use of these medications and subsequent antibiotic resistance. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the knowledge and attitude of university students regarding antibiotics. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on university students at a private university in Malaysia in 2018, using a self-administered validated questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the 424 respondents included in this study, 25.7% had taken antibiotics in the previous month while 22.6% had good knowledge about antibiotics. The faculty to which the respondents were attached was the only determinant associated with the respondents’ knowledge level on antibiotics. The odds of respondents from other faculties having poor knowledge level on antibiotics were significantly higher than those from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (P<0.001). The study found that 77.8% of the respondents knew the roles of antibiotics in treating bacterial infections, but only 27.4% knew that antibiotics were not for viral infections. However, 46.5% of the respondents recognized that penicillin is an antibiotic, but only 35.4% and 9.2% knew that aspirin and diphenhydramine, respectively, are not antibiotics. More than 70% of the respondents were aware that antibiotics have side effects and that overuse of antibiotics could lead to resistance. However, 35.6% expected antibiotics to be prescribed for common colds and 33% would not complete their course of antibiotics. CONCLUSION: The study shows that university students do not have adequate knowledge and about one-third have misconceptions about antibiotics. This calls for health education interventions at university level as this target population will be the future leaders of the country.