Knowledge and practices of antibiotic prescription in Arkhangelsk, Russia. A cross-sectional survey among dentists and dental students

Abstract

Aim: Considering the possible risk of continuing the negative trend of the development of resistant bacteria, and the association of high resistance to high use of antibiotics, therefore it is important to map the general knowledge among all healthcare professionals, including dentists, about antibiotic use practices. The aim of the study was, therefore, to reveal the knowledge among dentists, specialists and dental students regarding usage and prescription of antibiotics in Arkhangelsk, Russia. Material and methods: A questionnaire was distributed to dentists and last year dental student in the Arkhangelsk region in the span of one month in April of 2017. It was comprised of a total of 50 scoreable questions regarding knowledge and prescription of antibiotics in dentistry. Demographical questions were also collected. The scoreable questions were given values of one for correct answers and zero for incorrect. Mean scores were calculated as percentages and categorized as good (>80%), intermediate (60–80%), or poor (<60%). Results: 169 Participants fully filled out the questionnaire and were eligible to be analysed. The response rate was estimated to be around 22 percent. More than half of the participants were female (65.1%), and about half were in the age group 20 to 24 years of age (53.8%). The usage of Amoxicillin with Clavulanic acid was reported most frequently among the participants with over half checking it off (55.6%). Overall average knowledge was intermediate at 71.1%, with clinical signs having the poorest knowledge at 64.8% and the highest being non-clinical factors at 78.0%. Specialists working in the private sector had significantly better knowledge. Gender and work experience were not shown as statistically significant. Conclusion: The knowledge was shown to be intermediate, and generally consistent among groups and factors. Some outlier questions were answered mostly wrong or mostly correct, but the general consensus of the intermediate knowledge indicates that there is a need for more concentrated education and guidelines promoting restriction and correct usage of antibiotics.