Antibiotic prescription practices and attitudes towards the use of antimicrobials among veterinarians in the City of Tshwane, South Africa

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dc.contributor.author Samuels, Ronita
dc.contributor.author Qekwana, Daniel Nenene
dc.contributor.author Oguttu, James W.
dc.contributor.author Odoi, Agricola
dc.date.accessioned 2022-02-22T10:07:38Z
dc.date.available 2022-02-22T10:07:38Z
dc.date.issued 2021-01-31
dc.description.abstract BACKGROUND: Understanding the prescription practices and attitudes of veterinarians towards antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is crucial in guiding efforts to curb AMR. This study investigated prescription practices and attitudes towards AMR among veterinarians in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. METHODS: Out of the 83 veterinarians invited to participate in the study, 54 signed the consent form and completed the questionnaire. Percentages and 95% confidence intervals of all categorical variables were computed. A multinomial logistic model was used to identify predictors of the veterinarians’ view towards antimicrobial use. RESULTS: The majority (88%) of respondents indicated that improper use of antimicrobials contributed to selection for AMR. Veterinarians relied on clinical signs and symptoms (88%, 48/54) to decide whether to prescribe antimicrobials or not. However, the choice of antimicrobials depended on the cost of antibiotics (77.2%), route of administration (81.5%), and risk of potential adverse reactions (79.6%; 43/54). Many (61.5%) veterinarians were of the view that often antimicrobials are appropriately prescribed and 88.7% agreed that improper use of antimicrobials contributed to selection for antimicrobial resistant organisms. Compared to females, males were significantly more likely (Relative Risk Ratio (RRR) = 9.0; P = 0.0069) to agree rather than to “neither agree nor disagree” that their colleagues over-prescribed antimicrobials. CONCLUSIONS: The decisions to prescribe antimicrobials by the veterinarians depended on clinical presentation of the patient, while the choice of antimicrobial depended on cost, route of administration, and risk of potential adverse reactions. Most veterinarians were of the view that antimicrobials were prescribed judiciously. en_ZA
dc.description.department Paraclinical Sciences en_ZA
dc.description.librarian pm2022 en_ZA
dc.description.uri https://peerj.com en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Samuels, R., Qekwana, D.N., Oguttu, J.W. & Odoi, A. 2021. Antibiotic prescription practices and attitudes towards the use of antimicrobials among veterinarians in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. PeerJ 9:e10144 DOI 10.7717/peerj.10144. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 2167-8359 (online)
dc.identifier.other 10.7717/peerj.10144
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/84134
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher PeerJ en_ZA
dc.rights © 2021 Samuels et al. Distributed under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0. en_ZA
dc.subject Microbiology en_ZA
dc.subject Veterinary medicine en_ZA
dc.subject Epidemiology en_ZA
dc.subject City of Tshwane en_ZA
dc.subject Prescription practices en_ZA
dc.subject Judicious antimicrobial use en_ZA
dc.subject Antimicrobial stewardship en_ZA
dc.subject South Africa (SA) en_ZA
dc.subject Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) en_ZA
dc.title Antibiotic prescription practices and attitudes towards the use of antimicrobials among veterinarians in the City of Tshwane, South Africa en_ZA
dc.type Article en_ZA


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