Practices of Patients Consuming Antibiotics and Knowledge About Antibiotic Resistance in Hail Region – Saudi Arabia

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

AIM: Antibiotic misuse is considered one of the major causes of antimicrobial resistance. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to investigate the practices of antibiotic misuse in the region of Hail, Saudi Arabia and the extent of people awareness of antibiotic resistance. METHODS: Participants ≥18 years of age of both genders were recruit by convenience sampling from different public places. RESULTS: Out of 500 participants, 26% obtained their antibiotic without a prescription, 27% took antibiotics for unknown infections and only 34% completed antibiotic course. A total of 36.2% did not know about antibiotic resistance and its rise, but the majority were willing to learn. The results warrant further study into malpractice with a wider geographic area and sample size to generalize the results for the whole country.