4.4 Knowledge of antibiotics resistance among the respondents
Similar to a previous study done by Sakeena et al.26,
a substantial proportion of our students were familiar with many of the
terminologies related to antibiotic-resistance, they knew these
terminologies mostly from the doctors, followed by the media and
pharmacists. This indicates that doctors are playing a major role in
educating and disseminating the awareness of AR to our respondents.
Since the final year medical students are the doctors of tomorrow, a
better understanding of these terminologies allows them to provide
proper counselling to their patients.
Furthermore, similar to the WHO multi-country
survey27, about 60% of the respondents assume that AR
happened when the body became resistant to it. The WHO multi-country
survey stated that in facts, it is the bacteria strains that undergo
changes in response to the use of antibiotics, subsequently, the
bacteria can no longer respond to the effects of antibiotics that were
once being sensitive.27
Besides, around 78% of the respondents disagree that antibiotic
resistance is the only problem for those who took antibiotics regularly
and 84% of them believe that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be
spread from person to person. In contrast to the result of the WHO
multi-country survey,27 our students are having a
better understanding of the mechanism of antibiotics resistance.
Irrespective of the age, race and country, the risk of getting
antibiotics resistance is common for everyone as the bacteria can be
spread from one person to another. Poor sanitation, poor hygiene, and
poor infection control will subsequently escalate the widespread of
antibiotic-resistant bacteria. To tackle this issue, good hand hygiene
is important as it minimizes the risk of becoming carrier of resistant
bacteria.28