Knowledge of Use of Antibiotic, its Resistance and Consequences among Students in Private Schools

INTRODUCTION: Self-medication among adolescents has become a serious global problem that plays an important role in irrational use of medication and tends to increase with the age of adolescents. Limited research has been done in Nepal regarding antibiotic knowledge among non-medical students. Hence, this study aims to assess the knowledge of higher secondary non-science students regarding antibiotic use, resistance and its consequences. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was done during antibiotic awareness week 2017 among 471 grade 11 and 12 non-science students of private schools in Kathmandu. Convenience sampling technique was used. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics was utilised to find out the knowledge level of the students. RESULTS: The mean age of the students 245 (52%) male, 226 (48%) female) was 17.19 years and 335 (71.1%) were from grade 12. Approximately all 462 (98.1%) the participants had inadequate knowledge regarding antibiotic and their knowledge mean score was 5.8±2.56. More than half 277 (58.8%) of the students had not heard about antibiotic resistance, among those who had heard 113 (24%) said that doctors and nurses were the source of information. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all of the participating students lacked adequate knowledge regarding antibiotic. Thus, it is imperative to create school and community based awareness programs by policy makers for adolescents to upgrade their knowledge on safe use of antibiotics as well as to prevent the consequences of antibiotic resistance during their adult life.