Ivanovska, Verica and Zdravkovska, Milka and Bosevska, Golubinka and Angelovska, Bistra (2013) Antibiotics for upper respiratory infections: public knowledge, beliefs and self-medication in the Republic of Macedonia. Contributions, Sec. Biol. Med. Sci., 34 (2). pp. 60-70. ISSN 0351–3254
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Abstract
Self-medication as part of the irrational use of antibiotics contributes to the spread of antimicrobial
resistance. The aim of this community-based survey in Macedonia was to determine public
knowledge, beliefs and self-medication with antibiotics for upper respiratory infections. A crosssectional
study was conducted in three administrative regions in Macedonia in April 2012. 402
eligible participants answered an anonymous questionnaire. The analysis of answers involved
descriptive quantitative statistics (frequencies and percentages). We also tested for significant
associations between demographic characteristics and non-prescription use of antibiotics. Our
respondents demonstrated a relatively low level of public knowledge about antibiotics and upper
respiratory infection treatments in comparison to the EU countries. The study found that 71.4% of
participants stored antibiotics at home, and 43.3% purchased antibiotics over-the-counter in the last
year, despite national regulation that restricts antibiotics as prescription-only medicines. Actual selfmedication
with antibiotics for a recent upper respiratory infection episode was reported in 17.8% of
adults and 1.8% of children aged 0–4 years. We did not find any significant association between
participants’ demography and non-prescription use of antibiotics. Our results put in the group of
eastern and southern EU countries with the highest rates for non-prescription use of antibiotics in
Europe. Multifaceted interventions are needed to prevent self-medication with antibiotics, including:
enforcement of regulations that restrict over-the-counter sales of antibiotics, monitoring of antibiotic
use and antimicrobial resistance rates and combined public education strategies.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Medical and Health Sciences > Other medical sciences |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Medical Science |
| Depositing User: | Bistra Angelovska |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jan 2014 11:37 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2014 13:15 |
| URI: | https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/8875 |
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