Impact of targeted educational intervention towards public knowledge and perception of antibiotic use and resistance in the state of Perak, Malaysia

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern, accelerated by antibiotic overuse. Inadequate knowledge among the public has been associated with inappropriate use of antibiotics. This study determined the impact of a self-developed educational leaflet for addressing specific knowledge gaps in antibiotic use among the public. METHODS: This was an experimental study conducted at five hospitals and 20 primary health care clinics in the state of Perak. Adults over 18 years of age were recruited using sequential sampling. The first phase of data collection consisted of a pre-intervention assessment, an educational session, and an immediate post-intervention assessment. Each educational session was conducted by trained pharmacists and lasted approximately 15 min for each participant. A two-week post-intervention assessment was then conducted via a phone call to re-assess the participants using the same questionnaire. RESULTS: Out of 300 questionnaires distributed, 234 were completed for our study. The mean age of participants was 40.7 ± 14.6 years old. Most of the respondents were female (143, 61.1%), Malay (162, 69.2%), and had tertiary education (162, 69.2%). A mean score was generated for each domain, with knowledge towards antibiotic resistance: 2.83 ± 1.28 pre-intervention, 3.76 ± 0.62 immediate post-intervention, and 3.67 ± 0.78 two-weeks post-intervention (total score: 4.00); knowledge towards antibiotic use: 2.03 ± 1.56 pre-intervention, 4.56 ± 1.46 immediate post-intervention, and 4.32 ± 1.48 two-weeks post-intervention (total score: 6.00); perception towards antibiotic use: 2.83 ± 1.38 pre-intervention, 4.25 ± 1.06 immediate post-intervention, and 4.22 ± 1.02 two-weeks post-intervention (total score: 5.00). Significant improvement in the mean scores were found before and after intervention in all domains (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The educational leaflet was able to address salient knowledge gaps in the participants and remained sustainable over a two-week follow-up. Thus, its inclusion into future antibiotic awareness campaigns should be encouraged.