Knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotics and their determinants in Eritrea: an urban population-based survey.

Objective: To measure knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance (ABR) and their determinants in the Eritrean urban population.

Design: A population-based, nation-wide, cross-sectional study.

Setting: Urban settings of Eritrea.

Participants: Members of the general public aged ≥18 years and living in 13 urban places of Eritrea. Three-stage stratified cluster sampling was used to select the study participants.

Data Collection And Analysis: Date were collected from July 2019 to September 2019 in a face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. The collected data were double entered and analysed using Census and Survey Processing system (V.7.0) and SPSS (V.23), respectively. Descriptive statistics, χ test, t-tests, analysis of variance, factorial analysis and multivariable logistic regression were performed. All analyses were weighted and p<0.05 was considered significant.

Primary And Secondary Outcome Measures: Main outcome variables were knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotics and ABR. Secondary outcome measure was the determinants of knowledge, attitude and practice.

Results: A total of 2477 adults were interviewed. The mean score of knowledge and attitude of antibiotics and ABR was 10.36/20 (SD=3.51, minimum=0 and maximum=20) and 22.34/30 (SD=3.59, minimum=6 and maximum=30), respectively. Of those who used antibiotics, the proportion of at least one inappropriate practice (use of antibiotics without prescription and/or discontinuation of prescribed antibiotics before completing the full course) was 23.8%. Young age <24 years (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.61, 95% CI: 1.08 to 2.41), male sex (AOR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.14 to 1.91), higher level of education (AOR=1.76, 95% CI: 1.08 to 2.88), and negative attitude towards appropriate use of antibiotics (AOR=0.95, 95% CI: 0.92 to 0.97) were found to be the significant determinants of inappropriate practice of antibiotics.

Conclusion: The gap in knowledge and inappropriate practice of antibiotics in the Eritrean urban population was widespread; requiring immediate attention from policy-makers and healthcare professionals.