Perceptions and attitudes of ICU physicians toward antibiotics prescribing and resistance: A cross-sectional study

Antibiotic resistance is a major emphasis in intensive care units (ICUs). Better understanding of ICU physicians' perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge about antimicrobial prescribing practices could facilitate more effective interventions in fighting antimicrobial resistance in Egyptian ICUs and establishing a proper Antimicrobial Stewardship Program.

A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted including 92 physicians distributed across the different types of Egyptian healthcare institutions in two cities of Egypt; Cairo and El Monufia. Over a period of three months, started in December 2019 and ended in February 2020.

A total of 92 Egyptian physicians were included in the study. Seventy (76.1%) of the surveyed physician strongly agreed and 22 (23.9%) agreed that antibiotic resistance is a worldwide problem. Moreover, 50 (54.3%) strongly agreed and 40 (43.4%) agreed that it is a problem in their hospitals while only 2 (2.1%) disagreed. Poor hand hygiene (67.5%), poor infection control practices by healthcare professionals (63.9%) as well as wrong practices in the management of invasive devices (68.7%), and poor environmental cleaning practices (63.4%) were considered very important causes of AMR by the majority of the surveyed ICU physicians. Almost all of the physicians (95%) rated an advice from a clinical pharmacist as very or moderately helpful intervention, while (52%) declared an advice from a microbiologist or an infectious disease specialist as very helpful.

The results of the present study showed that the Egyptian ICU physicians have remarkable knowledge regarding antibiotic resistance as a worldwide problem and a high sensibility toward the problem in their hospitals. The study also showed that implementation of proper AMS is an urgent need as physicians answers for the different questions in the survey showed that their attitudes and perceptions regarding antibiotic resistance and their way in prescription could be modified and improved if AMS programs with suitable training programs and local guidelines are provided among different types of Egyptian hospitals.