Community Pharmacists’ knowledge and practice towards antibiotic resistance in Kuwait

Abstract

The misuse of antibiotics is a factor contributing to the rise of resistance particularly in countries where there is a lack of procedures for restricting and auditing antibiotic prescriptions. There is very limited data from Kuwait exploring the community pharmacists’ role towards reducing antibiotic misuse and resistance and so the aim of this study is to assess community pharmacists’ knowledge and practice towards antibiotic resistance in Kuwait. A cross sectional study was conducted among the primary care centers’ pharmacists in Al-Asema and Hawally districts in Kuwait between June-July 2018, using a self-administered online questionnaire. Out of 274, 156 pharmacists completed the questionnaire. A total of 148 pharmacists (95%) strongly agreed/agreed that antibiotics can cause allergic reaction. Moreover, results showed that a significant proportion of the participants (n= 42, 27.6%) never take part in antimicrobial awareness campaigns to promote the optimal use of antibiotics. Pharmacists in primary care settings in Kuwait have excellent knowledge and good practice toward antibiotics resistance. These findings will aid in encouraging collaborative work between pharmacists and other health care professional to limit antibiotic resistance in Kuwait and provide further insight in designing future interventions to reduce antibiotic resistance in Kuwait.