Community Use of Antibiotics in Turkey: The Role of Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Health Anxiety
Turkey has been among the leading countries in antibiotic consumption. As a result of the 4-year National Action Plan for Rational Drug Use, antibiotic prescriptions had declined from 34.9% in 2011 to 24.6% in 2018. However, self-medication with antibiotics without prescription is common, which is n...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Antibiotics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/10/10/1171 |
| _version_ | 1797515540871249920 |
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| author | Ümmügülsüm Gaygısız Timo Lajunen Esma Gaygısız |
| author_facet | Ümmügülsüm Gaygısız Timo Lajunen Esma Gaygısız |
| author_sort | Ümmügülsüm Gaygısız |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Turkey has been among the leading countries in antibiotic consumption. As a result of the 4-year National Action Plan for Rational Drug Use, antibiotic prescriptions had declined from 34.9% in 2011 to 24.6% in 2018. However, self-medication with antibiotics without prescription is common, which is not reflected in official statistics. The present study aims at investigating antibiotic use in the community and the factors related to it. A web-based survey was conducted among 945 Turkish-speaking respondents (61.3% female). The questionnaire included questions about antibiotic use for different illnesses, ways to obtain and handle leftover antibiotics, knowledge, beliefs of the antibiotic effectiveness, attitudes, health anxiety, and background factors. According to the results, 34.2% of the sample had self-medicated themselves with antibiotics without a valid prescription. The most common way to self-medicate was to use leftover antibiotics. While 80.4% knew that antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, 51.4% thought that antibiotics are effective for viral diseases. The most important predictor of antibiotic use frequency was the belief in their efficiency for various illnesses and symptoms, followed by negative attitudes to antibiotics, health anxiety, knowledge level, positive attitudes, and health status. The results underline the importance of targeting misbeliefs about antibiotics in future campaigns. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:46:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ffbdd057fbdf4e7f8c248beda82b960e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6382 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:46:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antibiotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-ffbdd057fbdf4e7f8c248beda82b960e2023-11-22T17:13:10ZengMDPI AGAntibiotics2079-63822021-09-011010117110.3390/antibiotics10101171Community Use of Antibiotics in Turkey: The Role of Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Health AnxietyÜmmügülsüm Gaygısız0Timo Lajunen1Esma Gaygısız2Department of Anesthesia Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, 06560 Ankara, TurkeyDepartment of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Economics, Middle East Technical University, 06800 Ankara, TurkeyTurkey has been among the leading countries in antibiotic consumption. As a result of the 4-year National Action Plan for Rational Drug Use, antibiotic prescriptions had declined from 34.9% in 2011 to 24.6% in 2018. However, self-medication with antibiotics without prescription is common, which is not reflected in official statistics. The present study aims at investigating antibiotic use in the community and the factors related to it. A web-based survey was conducted among 945 Turkish-speaking respondents (61.3% female). The questionnaire included questions about antibiotic use for different illnesses, ways to obtain and handle leftover antibiotics, knowledge, beliefs of the antibiotic effectiveness, attitudes, health anxiety, and background factors. According to the results, 34.2% of the sample had self-medicated themselves with antibiotics without a valid prescription. The most common way to self-medicate was to use leftover antibiotics. While 80.4% knew that antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, 51.4% thought that antibiotics are effective for viral diseases. The most important predictor of antibiotic use frequency was the belief in their efficiency for various illnesses and symptoms, followed by negative attitudes to antibiotics, health anxiety, knowledge level, positive attitudes, and health status. The results underline the importance of targeting misbeliefs about antibiotics in future campaigns.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/10/10/1171antibioticsself-medicationantimicrobial resistancecommunityknowledgebeliefs |
| spellingShingle | Ümmügülsüm Gaygısız Timo Lajunen Esma Gaygısız Community Use of Antibiotics in Turkey: The Role of Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Health Anxiety Antibiotics antibiotics self-medication antimicrobial resistance community knowledge beliefs |
| title | Community Use of Antibiotics in Turkey: The Role of Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Health Anxiety |
| title_full | Community Use of Antibiotics in Turkey: The Role of Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Health Anxiety |
| title_fullStr | Community Use of Antibiotics in Turkey: The Role of Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Health Anxiety |
| title_full_unstemmed | Community Use of Antibiotics in Turkey: The Role of Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Health Anxiety |
| title_short | Community Use of Antibiotics in Turkey: The Role of Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Health Anxiety |
| title_sort | community use of antibiotics in turkey the role of knowledge beliefs attitudes and health anxiety |
| topic | antibiotics self-medication antimicrobial resistance community knowledge beliefs |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/10/10/1171 |
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