Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception on Antibiotic Use and Antimicrobial Resistance among Residents of Metro Manila, Philippines

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is a threat to the general population worldwide. This study aims to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and perception of Manila residents aged 21-59 years old. To test the hypotheses, an online survey was distributed using the snowball method among the specified population. The data was analyzed using Descriptive statistics and Inferential tools: ANOVA, Profile Plot Analysis, and multiple comparisons using Bonferroni and Spearman’s Rho through SPSS, revealing 63 respondents had moderate levels, 57 had poor levels, and 12 had good levels of knowledge on antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic use. There was an overall agreement to perceived benefit, neutral perception on perceived barrier, overall agreement to perceived threat, and overall agreement on the perception of self-efficacy. A significant difference in the level of knowledge was found according to household income (p-value = <0.001), in the level of attitude to age (p-value = 0.008) and to household income (p-value = <0.001), and between the perception in terms of age (p-value = 0.008) and household income (p-value = 0.035). There is no significant difference in the levels of knowledge, attitude, and perception according to educational attainment. Attitude was found to be negatively related with perceived benefit and barrier. Perceptions were significantly related with age, household income, knowledge, and attitude. This suggests that an increase in the knowledge of the community leads to better attitudes and perception on antibiotic use. Therefore, it must be fronted against disinformation to reduce the occurrence of medicinal ineffectivity due to antimicrobial resistance.

Keywords:

Antibiotic use; Antimicrobial resistance; Knowledge; Attitudes; Perception; Age; Educational Attainment; Household Income