Ekaete A Tobin
,
Martha Okonofua
For correspondence:- Ekaete Tobin Email: ekaete.tobin@gmail.com Tel: +2348155368412
Published: 30 December 2020
Citation: Tobin EA, Okonofua M. Antibiotics medication sharing practice: a cross-sectional study of prevalence and correlates among hospital attendees in Nigeria. Trop J Med Dent Pract 2020; 1(2):57-64 doi: https://doi.org/10.47227/tjmdp/v1i2.1
© 2020 The author(s).
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..
Background Antibiotic sharing is a globally under-reported form of antibiotic misuse. The study sets out to assess the practice and correlates of antibiotic diversion to family members.
Methods: Consenting adult general out-patient clinic attendees in 5 secondary hospitals and one tertiary hospital in Edo Central senatorial district of Edo State, Nigeria were interviewed using a structured questionnaire on their knowledge and attitude towards antibiotic use, and practice of antibiotic sharing in the last one year. Data were analysed using Chi-square and logistic regression as appropriate. Appropriate institutional ethical board approval was obtained, and informed consent obtained from all participants.
Results. 798 patients (99.8%) returned questionnaires sufficiently completed to be used for further analysis. The mean age of respondents was 39 (14.6) years, 53.3% were females, the majority (45.9%) had tertiary education, were married (57.9%), and 40.1% were self-employed. Prevalence of antibiotic sharing with family members in the past one year was 49.7%, and was only significantly associated with the respondent’s age (OR 0.11, CI: 0.02-0.58) not with knowledge of antibiotics or other sociodemographic variables. Holding a belief that one can treat oneself with antibiotics if the cause is known (OR: 1.78, CI: 1.29 – 2.44), having a positive attitude towards antibiotic diversion (OR: 2.5, CI:1.68 – 3.58) and self-medication (OR: 0.04, CI: 0.02-0.06) were significant predictors of antibiotic diversion. The predominant reason given for antibiotic sharing was the availability of the antibiotic in the house, 195(49.1%).
Conclusion: Antibiotic sharing is common practice within families, and can heighten the risk of antibiotic resistance. Clinicians and pharmacists should actively engage in counselling to discourage the practice among their patients and clients.
