ANTIBIOTIC USE AND AWARENESS AMONG VISITORS OF NATIONAL GUARD PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTERS.

Background: Misuse of antimicrobial agents has led to the emergence of the global antibiotic resistance. The three main aspects that can contribute to antibiotic resistance are physicians, pharmacists and patients. Patients in Saudi Arabia can have easy access to antibiotics, which further contributes to the development of resistance. Our aim in this study is to address the patient aspect in regards to their usage patterns and knowledge of antibiotics in primary health care centers, Ministry of National Guard, Jeddah - Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from February to June 2016 at National Guard?s primary health care centers in Jeddah city. Self-administered Arabic\English questionnaires were distributed with convenient sampling technique. Results: Four hundred and five questionnaires were collected from four primary health care centers. There were 56.3% females (n=228) and mean (SD) age was 31.7 (11.7) years. Seventy percent of the participants reported antibiotic use in the past year. More than half (55.8%) would use antibiotics when they have common cold and 40.1% would recommend antibiotic medication based on their experience. Only 47.9% will stop antibiotic course when completed. The overall compliance was 65.2%. Among antibiotic complaint patients, 76.5% (n=186) have physician antibiotic prescriptions in comparison to 23.5% who received non physician prescriptions (pharmacist, others recommendations, own decision), however, 52.9% never heard of the term antibiotic resistance. Conclusion: Relatively good compliance was associated with physician antibiotic prescriptions. More than half of the population showed inappropriate antibiotic use. Both compliance and inappropriate use can impact the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the region, necessitating further control and education over antibiotics use.