1. Introduction
Antibiotics are known to be “wonder drug” with the characteristics of killing, inhibiting and slowing the growth of bacteria and some fungi but not viruses.1 In 2008, the Malaysian National Medicine Use Survey (NMUS) revealed that apart from antihypertensive, anti-diabetic and lipid-lowering drugs, antibiotics were one of the top 10 most utilised drugs in Malaysia.2
In recent decades, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics had led to the rise of antibiotic resistance/ antimicrobial resistance (AR) with an alarming rate. Additionally, World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 80% of the antibiotics used among the public and 20-50% of them were inappropriate.3 Despite the devastating effect on human’s welfare, AR is also causing tremendous impacts on economic growth.4,5
Since AR cannot be eradicated, in order to minimize the widespread of AR a collaborative and comprehensive action has to be done among the public as well as the healthcare professionals.6,7 Few prior studies summarized that the understanding and behaviour towards the judicious use of antibiotics among the Malaysian are not up to appreciable level.8,9 Hence, it is pivotal for healthcare professionals especially the doctors to monitor the antibiotic usage pattern as they are authorised to prescribe antibiotics in Malaysia.10 Their decision in prescribing antibiotics are highly influenced by the knowledge, attitude, perception and or practices (KAP).11 Therefore, more comprehensive education and training about the appropriate usage of antibiotics and awareness of AR should be implemented starting from their undergraduate level.12
To date, there is a paucity of data pertaining to the KAP towards the use of antibiotics and its resistance among the doctors and medical students.13–15 In consistent with these recommendations as well as inadequate evidence in Malaysia, this study was aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude, perception, and practice on the usage of antibiotics and its resistance among the final year medical students in a private medical university which provide a platform for concise comprehension in terms of the behaviour in prescribing antibiotic.