Online health information and public knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours regarding antibiotics in the UK: Multiple regression analysis of Wellcome Monitor and Eurobarometer Data

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

Antimicrobial resistance is a global public health problem with some socially patterned drivers. The objective of the study was to investigate associations between use of and trust in the Internet as a source of health-related information and the public’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours regarding antibiotics.

Methods

Two representative cross-sectional surveys (the 2015 Wellcome Monitor (n = 1524) and UK segment (n = 1330) of the 2016 Eurobarometer 85.1) covering knowledge about antibiotics and antibiotic consumption were analysed. Knowledge, attitude, and behaviour variables were analysed using regression in relation to demographic characteristics and use and trust in the Internet as a source of information.

Results

The key findings of the analysis are that both use of the Internet as a source of medical research information (variable from the Wellcome Monitor) and trust in the Internet as a source of information about antibiotics (variable from the Eurobarometer) were independently and positively associated with knowledge, attitude, and behaviour regarding antibiotics. Additionally, knowledge about antibiotics was positively associated with behaviour with antibiotics (Wellcome Monitor) and attitude towards finishing antibiotic prescriptions (Eurobarometer). Higher levels of education were associated with better knowledge about antibiotics in both datasets. Older age was positively associated with behaviour and attitude regarding antibiotic consumption.

Conclusions

The Internet is a resource for disseminating quality health information that has the potential to improve stewardship of antibiotics in the community. This study suggests that members of the UK public that use the Internet as a source of health-related information are more likely to be better informed about, and be more responsible with, antibiotics. This mode of information dissemination should be capitalised on to improve antimicrobial stewardship, and further research should examine what the most effective online information sources are in the UK and to what extent their association with behaviour is causal.

Related collections

Most cited references 31

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Characteristics and outcomes of public campaigns aimed at improving the use of antibiotics in outpatients in high-income countries.

Benedikt David Huttner, Herman Goossens, Theo Verheij … (2010)

The worldwide increase in resistance to antimicrobial drugs has made reducing the unnecessary use of antibiotics a public health priority. There have been campaigns in many countries to educate the public about appropriate use of antibiotics in outpatients. By use of a comprehensive search strategy and structured interviews, we were able to identify and review the characteristics and outcomes of 22 campaigns done at a national or regional level in high-income countries between 1990 and 2007. The intensity of the campaigns varied widely, from simple internet to expensive mass-media campaigns. All but one campaign targeted the public and physicians simultaneously. Most campaigns that were formally evaluated seemed to reduce antibiotic use. The effect on resistance to antimicrobial drugs cannot be assessed accurately at present. Although the most effective interventions and potential adverse outcomes remain unclear, public campaigns can probably contribute to more careful use of antibiotics in outpatients, at least in high-prescribing countries. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

0 comments Cited 158 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

General population's knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Maria Gualano, Renata Gili, Giacomo Scaioli … (2015)

Nowadays, the development of antibiotic resistance represents one of the most important issues of the global public health. The incorrect use of antimicrobial drugs is recognized as one of the leading causes of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, a better understanding of the existing pieces of evidence pertaining knowledge and attitudes about antibiotic and antibiotic resistance in the general population worldwide is advisable.

0 comments Cited 82 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

The public's attitudes to and compliance with antibiotics.

Tom Nichols, Peter Davey, Douglas P. Clappison … (2007)

Although a third of the public still believe that antibiotics work against coughs and colds, simply getting the public to believe otherwise may not be enough to reduce the level of prescribing. The large Department of Health sponsored household survey demonstrated that those with a greater knowledge about antibiotics were no less likely to be prescribed an antibiotic, and although those with increased knowledge about antibiotics were more likely to complete a course they were also more likely to self-medicate and to keep left-over antibiotics. Future campaigns that are aimed at reducing the level of prescribing should be focused towards those more likely to be prescribed antibiotics at present: younger women and those with a lower level of education. They should also examine and consider modifying consultation behaviour and other behavioural components involved in patient' expectations for antibiotics. This should include delayed antibiotic prescriptions. The easiest way to reduce the use of leftovers may be to shorten the course of antibiotics prescribed to 3 or 5 days. We should also promote a 'Do not recycle antibiotics' message towards the more highly educated, young women who are more likely to store, take and share antibiotics without advice.

0 comments Cited 63 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Alistair Anderson:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2385-0211

Role: ConceptualizationRole: Formal analysisRole: Funding acquisitionRole: MethodologyRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing

Italo Francesco Angelillo: Role: Editor

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): PLoS One

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): PLoS ONE

Journal ID (publisher-id): plos

Journal ID (pmc): plosone

Title: PLoS ONE

Publisher: Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )

ISSN (Electronic): 1932-6203

Publication date (Electronic): 24 October 2018

Publication date Collection: 2018

Volume: 13

Issue: 10

Electronic Location Identifier: e0204878

Affiliations

[001]School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

University of Campania, ITALY

Author notes

Competing Interests: The author has declared that no competing interests exists.

* E-mail: aa12938@ 123456bristol.ac.uk

Author information

Alistair Anderson http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2385-0211

Article

Publisher ID: PONE-D-18-22733

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204878

PMC ID: 6200201

PubMed ID: 30356302

SO-VID: 53441171-b915-4bcb-a99f-cbc060221b51

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

History

Date received : 1 August 2018

Date accepted : 14 September 2018

Page count

Figures: 0, Tables: 6, Pages: 15

Funding

Funded by: funder-id http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000269, Economic and Social Research Council;

Award ID: ES/J50015X/1

Award Recipient :

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2385-0211

Alistair Anderson

AA is supported by an Economic and Social Research Council studentship grant (reference ES/J50015X/1). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to public, or preparation of the manuscript.

Custom metadata

Data Availability Both datasets in the paper are third party data. For access to the Wellcome Monitor data (stored by the UK Data Service), one needs to register a free account with the Data Service. The data can then be downloaded for free along with technical documentation. No special access privileges are required to access this data. For the Eurobarometer data (stored by GESIS), one needs to register a free account with GESIS. The data can then be downloaded for free along with technical documentation. No special access privileges are required to access this data. Both datasets can be located using the doi identifiers in the bibliography. The author accessed these data sets in the same way as the instructions provided.

Online health information and public knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours regarding antibiotics in the UK: Multiple regression analysis of Wellcome Monitor and Eurobarometer Data

Read this article at

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Related collections

PLOS Climate

Most cited references 31

Characteristics and outcomes of public campaigns aimed at improving the use of antibiotics in outpatients in high-income countries.

General population's knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The public's attitudes to and compliance with antibiotics.

Author and article information

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Author information

Article

History

Page count

Funding

Categories

Custom metadata

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 151

Cited by 19

Most referenced authors 376