Pilot Study to Evaluate Patients’ Understanding of Key Terms and Aspects of Antimicrobial Use in a Rural Province in South Africa Findings and Implications
Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global concern, necessitating the understanding of utilisation patterns and their rationale. Pilot studies have been conducted in a rural province in South Africa to determine the extent of self-purchasing of antibiotics by patients from independent...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Advances in Human Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/aihb.aihb_119_24 |
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| author | Tiyani Milta Sono Veronica Mboweni Ana Golić Jelić Stephen M Campbell Vanda Marković-Peković Nishana Ramdas Natalie Schellack Santosh Kumar Brian Godman Johanna C Meyer |
| author_facet | Tiyani Milta Sono Veronica Mboweni Ana Golić Jelić Stephen M Campbell Vanda Marković-Peković Nishana Ramdas Natalie Schellack Santosh Kumar Brian Godman Johanna C Meyer |
| author_sort | Tiyani Milta Sono |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction:
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global concern, necessitating the understanding of utilisation patterns and their rationale. Pilot studies have been conducted in a rural province in South Africa to determine the extent of self-purchasing of antibiotics by patients from independent and chain pharmacies. It is imperative to understand the extent of knowledge and concerns of patients regarding the key aspects of antibiotic use and AMR, and potential language barriers, when pharmacists and their assistants are discussing the key aspects with patients. Consequently, the aim was to pre-test a patient questionnaire translated in three native languages building on the findings from the English language pilot.
Materials and Methods:
The English patient questionnaire (Parts 1 and 2) was translated to Sepedi, Tshivenda and Xitsonga. In total 30 patients were interviewed (5/language for Part 1 and Part 2 respectively) when leaving 10 chain and independent pharmacies. This was followed by interviews with patients to evaluate their understanding of questions and key concepts.
Results:
Eleven of 15 patients interviewed for Part 1 received antibiotics, including 8 without a prescription. Only independent pharmacies (8/10) dispensed antibiotics without prescriptions. Interviews revealed concerns about antibiotic knowledge and AMR and that certain terms including ‘antibiotic’ and ‘AMR’ posed challenges with patient understanding of the purpose of antibiotics. For instance, one patient self-purchased antibiotics for ‘cleansing’ of sexually transmitted infections. The questionnaires in the native languages were subsequently revised so that explanations for terms, including ‘antibiotic’ and ‘AMR’ will be provided in the main study.
Conclusion:
Similar to the previous pilot studies, self-purchasing of antibiotics was observed among independent pharmacies, although at varying rates, with similar indications. Continued health literacy education for pharmacists and patients, especially with native language communication, are needed to address current challenges and will be explored in the main study. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e558339f613d409d92ab362cd270b721 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2321-8568 2348-4691 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advances in Human Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e558339f613d409d92ab362cd270b7212025-08-20T02:40:56ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsAdvances in Human Biology2321-85682348-46912025-01-0115110811210.4103/aihb.aihb_119_24Pilot Study to Evaluate Patients’ Understanding of Key Terms and Aspects of Antimicrobial Use in a Rural Province in South Africa Findings and ImplicationsTiyani Milta SonoVeronica MboweniAna Golić JelićStephen M CampbellVanda Marković-PekovićNishana RamdasNatalie SchellackSantosh KumarBrian GodmanJohanna C MeyerIntroduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global concern, necessitating the understanding of utilisation patterns and their rationale. Pilot studies have been conducted in a rural province in South Africa to determine the extent of self-purchasing of antibiotics by patients from independent and chain pharmacies. It is imperative to understand the extent of knowledge and concerns of patients regarding the key aspects of antibiotic use and AMR, and potential language barriers, when pharmacists and their assistants are discussing the key aspects with patients. Consequently, the aim was to pre-test a patient questionnaire translated in three native languages building on the findings from the English language pilot. Materials and Methods: The English patient questionnaire (Parts 1 and 2) was translated to Sepedi, Tshivenda and Xitsonga. In total 30 patients were interviewed (5/language for Part 1 and Part 2 respectively) when leaving 10 chain and independent pharmacies. This was followed by interviews with patients to evaluate their understanding of questions and key concepts. Results: Eleven of 15 patients interviewed for Part 1 received antibiotics, including 8 without a prescription. Only independent pharmacies (8/10) dispensed antibiotics without prescriptions. Interviews revealed concerns about antibiotic knowledge and AMR and that certain terms including ‘antibiotic’ and ‘AMR’ posed challenges with patient understanding of the purpose of antibiotics. For instance, one patient self-purchased antibiotics for ‘cleansing’ of sexually transmitted infections. The questionnaires in the native languages were subsequently revised so that explanations for terms, including ‘antibiotic’ and ‘AMR’ will be provided in the main study. Conclusion: Similar to the previous pilot studies, self-purchasing of antibiotics was observed among independent pharmacies, although at varying rates, with similar indications. Continued health literacy education for pharmacists and patients, especially with native language communication, are needed to address current challenges and will be explored in the main study.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/aihb.aihb_119_24antibioticsantimicrobial resistancelanguagepatientspurchasing antibiotics without prescriptionssouth africa |
| spellingShingle | Tiyani Milta Sono Veronica Mboweni Ana Golić Jelić Stephen M Campbell Vanda Marković-Peković Nishana Ramdas Natalie Schellack Santosh Kumar Brian Godman Johanna C Meyer Pilot Study to Evaluate Patients’ Understanding of Key Terms and Aspects of Antimicrobial Use in a Rural Province in South Africa Findings and Implications Advances in Human Biology antibiotics antimicrobial resistance language patients purchasing antibiotics without prescriptions south africa |
| title | Pilot Study to Evaluate Patients’ Understanding of Key Terms and Aspects of Antimicrobial Use in a Rural Province in South Africa Findings and Implications |
| title_full | Pilot Study to Evaluate Patients’ Understanding of Key Terms and Aspects of Antimicrobial Use in a Rural Province in South Africa Findings and Implications |
| title_fullStr | Pilot Study to Evaluate Patients’ Understanding of Key Terms and Aspects of Antimicrobial Use in a Rural Province in South Africa Findings and Implications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pilot Study to Evaluate Patients’ Understanding of Key Terms and Aspects of Antimicrobial Use in a Rural Province in South Africa Findings and Implications |
| title_short | Pilot Study to Evaluate Patients’ Understanding of Key Terms and Aspects of Antimicrobial Use in a Rural Province in South Africa Findings and Implications |
| title_sort | pilot study to evaluate patients understanding of key terms and aspects of antimicrobial use in a rural province in south africa findings and implications |
| topic | antibiotics antimicrobial resistance language patients purchasing antibiotics without prescriptions south africa |
| url | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/aihb.aihb_119_24 |
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