Patient awareness and practices regarding antimicrobial use and drug resistance

Drug-resistant bacterial infections have become a substantial problem in various communities. Appropriate antimicrobial use is required because reducing antimicrobial use could reduce the number of resistant bacteria. The inappropriate use of antimicrobials can be prevented by improving the knowledge of patients, physicians, and other healthcare professionals; however, no antimicrobial awareness survey specifically aimed at patients has been conducted yet. Therefore, to promote proper antimicrobial use, mainly by patients, we conducted a survey on the attitudes of patients who brought their antimicrobial prescriptions from insurance pharmacies. The results were based on 858 responses. Awareness of the terms "bacteria, viruses, and antimicrobials" was > 80%, whereas that of "drug-resistant bacteria" was only 37.2%. Only 26.5% of respondents understood what the efficacy of antimicrobial drugs meant. Additionally, 31.5% of the respondents had experienced discontinuation antimicrobials, and approximately 70% of the reasons for discontinuation were self-judged symptom improvement. Furthermore, those who had experienced discontinuation were less aware of the various aspects of antimicrobial use than those who had not. In antimicrobial treatment, avoiding the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria is difficult, is detrimental to patients consuming treatment, and presents a major problem in society. Therefore, healthcare professionals should strive to optimize infectious disease treatment by providing appropriate guidance on the proper use of antimicrobials, significance of taking them, and harmful effects of their discontinuation to patients.