Abstract Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of rational use of antibiotics among interns in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 81 interns in a tertiary care hospital after getting institutional ethics committee approval. Interns who gave informed consent were asked to answer the pre-formed pre-tested questionnaire to assess their knowledge, attitude, and practice about antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. Data collected using Google Forms was entered in Excel and analysed using descriptive statistics to generate the mean and percentage. Results: The mean age of interns was 24.5 years. 93.8% had good knowledge about antibiotic usage and resistance. The majority had a favourable attitude, with 51.9% strongly agreeing and 45.7% agreeing that self-medication of antibiotics was not advisable. All knew that a hospital's antibiotic policy would help reduce irrational use of antibiotics. There was a concern that 53.1% of interns prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics usually in their practice, with 13.6% sometimes prescribing antibiotics at the patient’s request. Most of them used to advise the patient regarding completion of the antibiotic course as prescribed. Regarding the solution for combating antibiotic resistance, some have emphasized the importance of health education and awareness programs for doctors on the rational use of antibiotics. Conclusion: Medical interns had a good understanding of the importance of rational antibiotic use and had a positive attitude towards it; however, the translation of the knowledge into optimal prescribing practices reveals a gap. Continuous and multifaceted education regarding rational prescription of antibiotics, including practical training and mentorship, is essential to help interns make consistent prescribing decisions from the start of their careers.
International Journal of Medical Science and Advanced Clinical Research (IJMACR) (Thu,) studied this question.