Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of interns towards antibiotic resistance and its prescription in a teaching hospital: a cross sectional study

Background: Aim of the present study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices adopted by interns towards the antibacterial resistance and prescription. Methods: This is a cross sectional questionnaire based study conducted among the interns working in a teaching hospital. After obtaining the consent, the interns were asked to answer the preformed structured questionnaire to evaluate their knowledge, attitude and practice towards antibiotic resistance and prescription. Completed questionnaire were collected, compiled and data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Chi-square test was also used at appropriate places to determine the statistical significance. Results: A total of 80 participants completed the questionnaire. The response rate was 100%. Most of the interns had good knowledge of antibiotic resistance. 95% of the interns felt that the antibiotic resistance is an important and serious global health issue. Only 21.2% felt the need of antibiotic to treat common cold symptoms. Majority of the respondents agreed with the need of an antibiotic policy in the hospital to achieve rational antibiotic usage. With regard to having a course on rational use of antibiotics in the curriculum, 63.7% agreed and 31.2% strongly agreed. Conclusions: Our study has generated information about the knowledge, attitude and practice of interns towards antibiotic resistance and prescription which can help planning for an effective curriculum regarding antibiotic resistance and prescription.