Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding antibiotics and resistance among adult patients at a regional referral hospital in Hlotse, Lesotho

Abstract

The study assessed knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPs) regarding antibiotics use and resistance among adult patients at Motebang regional referral hospital in Hlotse, Lesotho. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 351 randomly selected adult patients at the public hospital. Most patients (n= 244, 69.5%) demonstrated poor knowledge, 61.8% (n=217) of the respondents had negative attitudes and 57.8% (n=203) indicated having good practices regarding antibiotics use. While the respondents’ knowledge was associated with age (p=0.05), their practices correlated with marital status (p<0.001) and age (p=0.001). There were significant positive correlations (p<0.001) between the participants’ attitudes and knowledge, practices and knowledge as well as attitudes and practices. The respondents had negative attitudes towards taking low dose of antibiotics; and generally reported that antibiotic resistance did not pose any health problem. While good practices were reported by the respondents, they generally admitted undertaking non prescription purchase and taking incomplete dosage of antibiotics. Patient education programmes on appropriate antibiotic use and resistance prevention are urgently needed to address this public health challenge.