Social Aspects of Antibiotic use in the South and East Asian Students and General Population

Background: This study explored the knowledge of attitudes to and perception of consumption of antibiotics, and understanding of antibiotic resistance among students and general population across South and East Asia region. Method: A systematic review was performed through PubMed, Scopus, EBSCOhost (Medline) and EMBASE scientific databases. Cross-sectional studies aimed to investigate the knowledge of, attitude to and perception of antibiotic use as well as studies concerning the demand of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance were evaluated. Other inclusion criteria were: studies published in English prior to July 2016; survey that examined one of the 7 topics proposed by Gualano et al. (2015) in their systematic review on knowledge and attitudes about antibiotics. Results: A total of 9 studies were selected for systematic review. A lack of knowledge about antibiotics was identified. Approximately 50% of the sample mistakenly believed that antibiotics could treat viral infections which are commonly responsible for the common cold, sore throat and cough. The majority (above 60%) of the sample were compliant with completing a full course of antibiotics but unfortunately 40% of the sample still selfadministered antibiotics without prescription. Conclusion: Knowledge of, attitudes to and perceptions of antibiotic use are found to be inappropriate among the student and general public in the South and East Asia region. Although antibiotic resistance is a global issue, every country in the South and East Asia region is encouraged to take their own initiative to curb antibiotic resistance.