Abstract

Objective: Inappropriate use of antibiotics leads to an increase in antibiotic resistance. It is aimed to determine the attitudes of parents about the rational use of antibiotics in primary school students.

Methods: The parents of primary school students in Hatay province were included in the study. Parents were asked to fill in a 25-question google questionnaire. The results were analyzed with SPSS v24. P<0.05 was considered significant.

Results: A total of 481 parents participated voluntarily. Of them 46.4% stated that they first applied to the family physician when their child got sick. If both parents graduated from high school or higher degree, the rate of preference for family physicians was determined as 60.7% (n=139) (p<0.001). Multivitamin use was also higher in this group (32.2%, n=85, p<0.001). About half of the parents (47.4%) use antibiotics two-to-three times a year for their children. While the rate of those who stated that they used it for the duration and dose recommended by the physician was 97.5%. It was determined that 13.5% of them used a scale other than the antibiotic scale when the same question was asked differently. Of the parents, 35.6% stated that they were not informed by the healthcare professional about the possible side effects of antibiotics. Those who think that they have knowledge about the harms of using inappropriate antibiotics are 71.5%.

Conclusion: There is still a lack of information about the damages of inappropriate antibiotic use, at a rate of 30-35%. More information should be given about the rational use of antibiotics.