Antimicrobial storage and antibiotic knowledge in the community: A cross-sectional pilot study in north-western Angola
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Antimicrobials are drugs that were once lifesavers and mainly curative. Nowadays their value is increasingly under pressure because of the rapid and worldwide emergence of antimicrobial resistance, which, in low-resource settings, frequently occurs in microorganisms that are likely to be transmitted in the community. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional pilot study including 102 households within the 10th Health and Demographic Surveillance System round in Dande, Bengo Province, Angola. RESULTS: Of the total 102 households piloted, 79 (77.45%) were urban. Fifty-seven respondents were female (56.44%), and the mean age of the respondents was 39.70±15.35years. Overall, storage of antimicrobials was found in 55/102 households (53.92%). More than 66% of the antimicrobials stored were prescribed by a health professional and the majority of antimicrobials were bought at pharmacies or at a street market. Penicillin and its derivatives, antimalarial drugs, and metronidazole were the antimicrobials most frequently stored. Households with female respondents reported storing any drugs at home more frequently (82.50%; p=0.002) and also storing antimicrobials more frequently (64.91%; p=0.016) as compared to households with male respondents. Reported use of antimicrobials was significantly higher in urban households (60.76%, 48/79) as compared to rural households (30.43%, 7/23) (p=0.010). Overall, 74 of 101 respondents (73.26%) reported having already heard about antibiotics. The common reasons given for their use were cough and other respiratory symptoms, wounds, flu and body muscle pain, fever, bladder complaints, and diarrhoea and/or presumed typhoid fever. Nearly 40% (28/74) of the respondents thought that antibiotics should be stopped as soon as the person does not feel sick anymore. CONCLUSIONS: Community interventions for appropriate use of antibiotics should be designed with a special focus on women. This should be done through public awareness campaigns and improving access to reliable medical services. Drug prescribers are key not only to appropriate antimicrobial prescription, but also to adequate dispensing, and are strong advocates for the possible misconceptions on antimicrobial usage by lay people.
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A large majority of antibiotic use occurs in the community, where antibiotics are readily available and can be obtained without a prescription.
“Many studies suggest that a large majority of antibiotic use occurs in the community, where antibiotics are readily available and can be obtained without a prescription [12,13].”
From Over-the-Counter Sale of Antibiotics in India: A Qualitative Study of Providers’ Perspectives across Two States (2021) · cites this paper as [12]
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“Many studies suggest that a large majority of antibiotic use occurs in the community, where antibiotics are readily available and can be obtained without a prescription [12,13].”
Background
- Authors
- Cortez, J., Rosário, E., Pires, J. E., Taborda Lopes, J., Francisco, M., Vlieghe, E., & Brito, M.
- Affiliations
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Angola (AO)
- World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (DK)
- Ministry of Health (AO)
- University of Antwerp (BE)
- Universidade Politécnica de Lisboa (PT)
- Corresponding author
- Cortez, Joana
- Venue
- International Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-07
- Volume
- 60
- Pages
- 83-87
- ISSN
- 1201-9712 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2617631174
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 1.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Infectious Diseases (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- World Health Organization
- Ministério da Saúde
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology › Antibiotic Use and Resistance
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmacy and Medical Practices
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Medicine › Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
- Keywords
- antimicrobial resistance, antibiotic knowledge, household drug storage, antibiotic misuse, self-medication, gender differences in drug use, urban-rural differences, penicillin, antimalarial drugs, metronidazole, public awareness campaigns, resource-limited settings
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Angola, Anti-Infective Agents, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Cross-Sectional Studies, Drug Resistance, Microbial, Drug Storage, Family Characteristics, Female, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Middle Aged, Pilot Projects, Rural Population, Socioeconomic Factors, Young Adult
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