Palestinian physicians’ self-reported practice regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcare
BackgroundThe main objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial therapy knowledge, attitudes, and practices of primary care physicians in the West Bank and Gaza.MethodsBetween January and April 2021, this cross-sectional survey was conducted. A link to the online survey was sent via con...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1139871/full |
| _version_ | 1797856229792415744 |
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| author | Bessan Maraqa Zaher Nazzal Suha Hamshari Nardine Matani Yasmeen Assi Mousa Aabed Furqan Alameri |
| author_facet | Bessan Maraqa Zaher Nazzal Suha Hamshari Nardine Matani Yasmeen Assi Mousa Aabed Furqan Alameri |
| author_sort | Bessan Maraqa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundThe main objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial therapy knowledge, attitudes, and practices of primary care physicians in the West Bank and Gaza.MethodsBetween January and April 2021, this cross-sectional survey was conducted. A link to the online survey was sent via confidential email lists to 336 primary care physicians who treated patients in Ministry of Health clinics. The survey questions scoring system was devised in order to evaluate the physicians’ practice, knowledge, and attitudes. Our scoring system identified favorable (good) and unfavorable (average and poor) antibiotic practices. In addition to independent t-test, the Chi-square test was used to compare the two groups of physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices with their background characteristics. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify potential confounding variables having significant relationships.ResultsOf the 336 distributed questionnaires, 316 were completed, with a response rate of 94%. More than half (54.7%) were males, half (51.6%) were between 30 and 45 years of age, and most were general practitioners (74.1%). The overall good knowledge and attitude scores were 125 (39.6%) and 194 (61.4%), respectively. More than half (58.2%) had good antibiotic prescription practices. Females reported significantly more favorable practices than males, as did family medicine specialists compared with general practitioners. Finally, knowledge about antibiotic prescriptions had a substantial impact on changing their practices. However, physicians’ attitudes toward antibiotic prescriptions did not have a significant role in shaping their practices.ConclusionOveruse of antibiotics is a significant health issue in Palestine and worldwide. Most physicians know that improper antibiotic usage can cause antimicrobial resistance. More than two-thirds avoided needless antimicrobial prescriptions. In practicing antimicrobial stewardship, most prescribed fewer antibiotics and did not prescribe because of patient pressure. Family medicine specialists, female doctors, and those with high knowledge scores regardless of caseload were more likely to have good practices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:37:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-afba0622f6734158b2b0efbd5adc54e0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-858X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:37:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-afba0622f6734158b2b0efbd5adc54e02023-03-30T08:00:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Medicine2296-858X2023-03-011010.3389/fmed.2023.11398711139871Palestinian physicians’ self-reported practice regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcareBessan Maraqa0Zaher Nazzal1Suha Hamshari2Nardine Matani3Yasmeen Assi4Mousa Aabed5Furqan Alameri6Family and Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Hebron University, Hebron, PalestineConsultant Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, PalestineConsultant Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, PalestineFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, PalestineFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, PalestineConsultant Family Medicine, Ministry of Health, Gaza, PalestineMinistry of Health, Alhussein Teaching Hospital, Karbala, IraqBackgroundThe main objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial therapy knowledge, attitudes, and practices of primary care physicians in the West Bank and Gaza.MethodsBetween January and April 2021, this cross-sectional survey was conducted. A link to the online survey was sent via confidential email lists to 336 primary care physicians who treated patients in Ministry of Health clinics. The survey questions scoring system was devised in order to evaluate the physicians’ practice, knowledge, and attitudes. Our scoring system identified favorable (good) and unfavorable (average and poor) antibiotic practices. In addition to independent t-test, the Chi-square test was used to compare the two groups of physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices with their background characteristics. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify potential confounding variables having significant relationships.ResultsOf the 336 distributed questionnaires, 316 were completed, with a response rate of 94%. More than half (54.7%) were males, half (51.6%) were between 30 and 45 years of age, and most were general practitioners (74.1%). The overall good knowledge and attitude scores were 125 (39.6%) and 194 (61.4%), respectively. More than half (58.2%) had good antibiotic prescription practices. Females reported significantly more favorable practices than males, as did family medicine specialists compared with general practitioners. Finally, knowledge about antibiotic prescriptions had a substantial impact on changing their practices. However, physicians’ attitudes toward antibiotic prescriptions did not have a significant role in shaping their practices.ConclusionOveruse of antibiotics is a significant health issue in Palestine and worldwide. Most physicians know that improper antibiotic usage can cause antimicrobial resistance. More than two-thirds avoided needless antimicrobial prescriptions. In practicing antimicrobial stewardship, most prescribed fewer antibiotics and did not prescribe because of patient pressure. Family medicine specialists, female doctors, and those with high knowledge scores regardless of caseload were more likely to have good practices.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1139871/fullprimary careantibioticsfamily medicineWest Bank and Gazaupper respiratory tract infections |
| spellingShingle | Bessan Maraqa Zaher Nazzal Suha Hamshari Nardine Matani Yasmeen Assi Mousa Aabed Furqan Alameri Palestinian physicians’ self-reported practice regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcare Frontiers in Medicine primary care antibiotics family medicine West Bank and Gaza upper respiratory tract infections |
| title | Palestinian physicians’ self-reported practice regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcare |
| title_full | Palestinian physicians’ self-reported practice regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcare |
| title_fullStr | Palestinian physicians’ self-reported practice regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcare |
| title_full_unstemmed | Palestinian physicians’ self-reported practice regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcare |
| title_short | Palestinian physicians’ self-reported practice regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcare |
| title_sort | palestinian physicians self reported practice regarding antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections in primary healthcare |
| topic | primary care antibiotics family medicine West Bank and Gaza upper respiratory tract infections |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1139871/full |
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