Journal of Education and Health Promotion 2277-9531 12 4 2022 04 01 Knowledge, awareness, and attitudes toward antibiotic resistance and practice of self‑medication among university students in Bangladesh: A cross‑sectional study 1 7 29925 EN . Gowranga Kumar Paul . Md. Shalauddin Swapon . K. M. Kaderi Kibria Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail, Bangladesh Journal Article 2023 03 22 BACKGROUND: The prevalence of self‑medication is high in Bangladesh due to easy access <br />and poor regulatory controls over these drugs. Our study aimed to assess the attitude of university <br />students in Bangladesh toward antibiotic usage, especially their knowledge and awareness about <br />antibiotics and their resistance. We also evaluated the determinants behind their attempts at drug <br />intake without prescription.<br />MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross‑sectional study was conducted in Mawlana Bhashani Science <br />and Technology University that included information from randomly selected 200 students from 15 <br />departments using a structured questionnaire. The statistical analyses were performed by using <br />SPSS software (version 21) and R programming.<br />RESULTS: The study revealed that 61.0% of the students use self‑medication at different times <br />or always; 32.5% of the respondents keep antibiotics for future use, and 38% of the students think <br />it is right to stop antibiotics when symptoms are improving. Half of the participants (47.5%) use <br />antibiotics based on their previous experience. The criteria of antibiotic selection have a significant <br />relationship with knowledge about antibiotic resistance (P = 0.017) and altered prescribed medicine <br />without doctor’s advice (P < 0.001). The multivariate analysis indicates that respondents who know <br />about antibiotic resistance select antibiotics from the community pharmacists with respect to their <br />own experience 5.102 times higher than those who do not know about antibiotic resistance.<br />CONCLUSIONS: The study mainly explored the knowledge gaps of the students on the options that <br />are responsible for antibiotic resistance in the community and found that students have mid‑level <br />knowledge (66%) about antibiotic resistance.<br /><br /> https://jehp.mui.ac.ir/article_29925_cc89fc920377c87391a39567f6166676.pdf