(74) Community Pharmacists' Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Towards Antibiotic Use in Bulgaria

Publication Number: 405

Background: Antibiotic resistance (AMR) is a worsening global problem, despite national and international efforts to address it. Inappropriate antibiotics use is one of the main drives in growing AMR. Community pharmacists are the most accessible health professionals and could facilitate the rational use of antibiotics.

Objectives: The aim of our study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of community pharmacists in Bulgaria towards antibiotic use.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed among community pharmacists in Bulgaria with the use of an anonymous, structured, and pre-validated questionnaire developed by Gajdacz et al. Data was collected nationwide in June 2021. 182 community pharmacists filled in the questionnaire (response rate 86%). Data were analyzed with SPSS v.24.0.

Results: The Bulgarian pharmacists have sufficient knowledge regarding antibiotic use and antimicrobial therapy as a general and they realize the impact of irrational use of antibiotics and the growing AMR. The majority of the respondents (96.7%) consider that the inappropriate use of antibiotics in Bulgaria is a problem. Every fifth patient would like to obtain an antibiotic without prescription and 24.6% of the respondents confessed that they have been dispensing antibiotics without proper prescription in up to 25% of all purchases. Almost half of the pharmacists (43.3%) believe that they could influence patients' behavior towards antibiotics use and knowledge about infectious diseases. The main barrier identified by them is the lack of time for proper consultation.

Conclusions: Self-medication with antibiotics is a widespread phenomenon in Bulgaria. Despite pharmacists' knowledge of the irrational antibiotics use and the thread of AMR associated with it, there is a lack of conscious effort to prevent it.