APMC Vol. 14 No. 2 April – June 2020 164 www.apmcfmu.com ORIGINAL ARTICLE Annals of Punjab Medical College Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior regarding Antibiotics Misuse and Use among Medical Students of Public Sector Medical College of Faisalabad Mehr Muhammad Adeel Riaz, 1 Rameen Shahid, 2 Areeba Naeem, 3 Sumera Badar Ehsan, 4 Sajjad Ali, 5 Mariam Saleem 6 1,2,3 Final Year MBBS Student, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad-Pakistan, 4 Department of Medical Education, Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad-Pakistan, 5 Department of Medicine, Continental Medical College, Lahore Pakistan, 6 Medical Officer, National Hospital, Faisalabad Pakistan ABSTRACT Background: Antibiotic resistance is a critical issue that needs to be addressed, especially in a developing country like Pakistan. Overuse of antibiotics has rendered life-saving drugs ineffectual, creating a major dilemma for local hospitals. Objective: To assess and evaluate the knowledge, attitude and behavior regarding antibiotics misuse among medical students. Study Design: An Observational descriptive study. Settings: The medical students of public sector medical college of Faisalabad Pakistan. Duration: After getting approval of the ethical committee, the duration of study was 5 weeks. Methodology: 200 students were interviewed according to the pattern of the questionnaire. Results: 82% of students were most likely to use antibiotics during common viral infections. However, 88.5% knew about the consequences of antibiotics misuse i.e. antibiotic resistance, but still 53.50% sought non-prescribed antibiotics from medical stores and 60.5% of them didn’t complete the antibiotics course recommended by their doctors.40.50% of students admitted to self-medicate themselves on antibiotics twice a year. Conclusion: Efforts are necessary to persuade the health education programs to inform the general public and health care workers about the long-term hazards of antibiotic resistance. Keywords: Antibiotics resistance, Non-prescribed antibiotics, Per annum usage. Corresponding Author Submitted for Publication: 04-10-2019 Accepted for Publication: 11-03-2020 Dr. Mehr Muhammad Adeel Riaz, Final Year MBBS Student, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad-Pakistan. Email: adeelriaz369@gmail.com Citation: Riaz MMA, Shahid R, Naeem A, Ehsan SB, Ali S, Saleem M. Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior regarding Antibiotics Misuse and Use among Medical Students. APMC 2020;14(2):164-7. DOI: 10.29054/APMC/2020.718 INTRODUCTION The discovery of antibiotics revolutionized the concept of modern medicine. Antibiotics which are defined as, “chemical substance produced by a living organism, generally a microorganism, that is detrimental to other microorganisms 1 are the most commonly sold drugs in the developing countries 2 Misuse can be defined as to use (something) incorrectly. 3 Over the counter availability and usage of the antibiotics pose a serious threat to the global population. The irrational prescription of antibiotics, lack of the concerns about long term drug resistance and consequence versus treating current symptoms by healthcare providers and poor health policies concerning medical usage of life saving drugs like antibiotics are the major contributing factors in putting a strain on the long term efficacy of the drug. 4 There are multiple layer to this phenomenon which is leading to unwanted adverse effects that leave the patient or a user in an unexpected situation e.g. antibiotics resistance bacterial strains (super-bugs), treatment failure, toxicity, prolonged treatment time, hospital stay and increased cost; 5 eventually putting economic burden on national health system. 6 It has been approximated that by 2050, an increase in drug resistance infections would cost nearly 10 million lives per year and 100 trillion US dollars of the economy would be at stake. 7 According to the report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014, antibiotic misuse was the cause of severe treatment failures in developed countries like Australia, UK, Canada, Japan, Austria, Norway, France and South Africa. A 2014 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that there were about 480,000 cases of drug resistance because of antibiotic misuse. 8 Drawing Asia into the picture, reports present the data of fully drug resistant population percentage like this i.e. 2.2% in China, 0.3% in South Korea drug resistant cases out of the total cases presented to the hospitals. Furthermore, the multi-drug resistance phenomenon was observed in 59.3% of the population of Asian countries. 9 If we speculate this ratio in Pakistan, data suggest that 41% of the nation doesn’t understand the idea of drug resistance so opt to use antibiotics without any hesitation. 10 The purpose of conducting this study is to assess the level of knowledge, and misconceptions associated with attitude and behavior regarding the misuse of antibiotics among medical students i.e. future healthcare providers and iconic stakeholders involved in shaping the future of antibiotic prescription and eventually the community health. METHODOLOGY Study Design: This was an observational descriptive study. Settings: This research was conducted in the public sector medical college of Faisalabad Pakistan. Duration: After acquiring approval of the ethical committee, the duration of study was 5 weeks. Sample Size: 200 medical students (n=200).