Lack of antibiotic knowledge and misuse of antibiotics by medical students in Mali: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Misuse of antibiotics, especially in low-and-middle-income countries is a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance. Medical students are antibiotic consumers and prescribers in the future. This study aimed to assess antibiotic knowledge and utilization among medical students in the Republic of Mali, and to determine the relationship between knowledge and health-seeking behavior in relation to antibiotic use.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the only public medical university in Mali. The questionnaire explored knowledge about antibiotics of medical students, and health behaviors for self-limiting illness. Data were analyzed in SPSS.

Results: A total of 446 medical students completed the questionnaire. The average knowledge score was 4.12 out of 10. Students with clinical experience performed higher (4.79 vs 3.74, p< 0.01); 391(87.7%) medical students reported experience of self-limiting diseases in the past year. Of these 197(50.4%) went to see a doctor, 160 (81.2%) of whom were prescribed antibiotics: 151 medical students self-treated, with 121(80.1%) using antibiotics.

Conclusions: This study shows poor knowledge and massive misuse of antibiotics among medical students in Mali. Promoting education on the mechanism of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance and rational antibiotic use among medical students should be a priority in the medical school curriculum.

KEYWORDS:

• Antibiotics
• antimicrobial resistance
• mali
• medical students
• knowledge
• cross-sectional study

Author contributions

JC, A M S, XH S, KD, AM and TH made substantial contributions to the conception and design, or acquisition of data. JC, YX, and TH are also in charge of analysis and interpretation of data and the drafting of the paper and revising it critically for intellectual content.

Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to those students who participated amidst their extremely busy schedule. We also thank the Chinese Medical Team at the Mali hospital in Bamako for their support and hospitality.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was funded by China Medical Board.