Abstract

EVALUATION OF PARENTS KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE DANGEROUS EFFECT OF EXCESSIVE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS ON CHILDREN WITH URTIS IN SAUDI ARABIA, 2017

Maram Mohammed Aljohani*, Mai khalid alakhmimi, Abdulaziz Zaher Alalmaei, Musab Shakir Alshareef, Saad saleh aldughaythir, Ahmed abdullah saleh alenazi, Seba Ghaithan AlAmri, Rawan Ahmad Alsahafi, 

Abstract

Background: Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are highly encountered by children all over the world with repeating episodes from 6-8 times during the year. However being of viral origin and a self-limited disease, many parents’ attitudes forces physician to use antibiotics thus resulting in antibiotic resistance. Objectives:To study the parental knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) toward antibiotic use among children with URTIs in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A d Self-administered questionnairewas distributed among parents presented at a random sample of primary schools in KSA from February 2017 to June 2017. Results: A total of 547 parents were included from different parts of KSA, most of them were females, had a college degree and a moderate income. Overall, KAP toward using antibiotics in URTI for children was very low among 72% of subjects and was good in only 28% of subjects showing that there was inappropriate level of KAP among studied population. Conclusion: Saudi parents have inadequate knowledge about antibiotic use in children for treating URTIs that showed incorrect answered for attitudes and practices.

Keywords: KSA, KAP, Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs), Antibiotic Resistance.