The latest issue of African Health Sciences (edited by HIFA member James Tumwine) is now available here:
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ahs
Below are the citation and abstract of a paper on Knowledge and perception of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship
among healthcare students in Nigeria.
The full text can be freely downloaded here: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ahs/article/view/261338
CITATION: Jackson IL, Akpan MR, Adebayo GO. (2023). Knowledge and perception of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship
among healthcare students in Nigeria. Afri Health Sci, 23(4). 195-202. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v23i4.22
ABSTRACT
Background: Assessment of knowledge and perception of healthcare students regarding antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) would facilitate more effective education of these future prescribers.
Objectives: To assess knowledge and perception of AMR and AMS among healthcare students in Nigerian universities.
Methods: This was a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey of medical, nursing and pharmacy undergraduate students from November 2019 to January 2020, using both paper and electronic modes of self-administration.
Results: A total of 335 students participated in the survey. Mean age of respondents was 23±3 years; 114 (34.4%) were in their 5th year of study. Most (78.9%) of the respondents agreed that widespread use of antimicrobials promotes AMR. Only 70 (21.1%) were aware that poor hand hygiene promotes AMR; 45.9% (42.7%, 37.3% and 57.7% for medicine, nursing and pharmacy respectively, p = 0.007) agreed that AMR is promoted by substandard quality of antimicrobials. Majority (94.3%) perceived AMR as a worldwide problem. Over half (60.8%) were not familiar with the term ‘antimicrobial stewardship’. Eleven (3.3%) and 122 (36.9%) rated their AMS knowledge as ‘very good’ and ‘poor’ respectively.
Conclusions: Nigerian healthcare students had suboptimal knowledge of AMR and AMS. Current undergraduate healthcare curriculum should be reviewed to incorporate AMS principles.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
