Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in Aseer, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

IF 2.7 4区医学 Q2 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

Risk Management and Healthcare Policy Pub Date : 2025-03-12 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.2147/RMHP.S507235

Ahmed Khaled Bahamdan, Sirajudeen Shaik Alavudeen, Ghadah Khaled Bahamdan, Khaled Ahmed Bahamdan, Saud Mohammed Ali Asiri, Nawaf Amer Mohammed Alshahrani, Saud Abdulziz Alqahtani, Ahmed R N Ibrahim

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are initiatives designed to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). ASPs enhance antimicrobial use, prevent errors, maintain guidelines, and monitor usage to reduce AMR.

Objective: This study aims to shed light on healthcare professionals' (HCPs) knowledge, experience, and attitudes regarding ASPs.

Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study, approved by the Research Ethics Committee at King Khalid University (ECM#2022-2023) was conducted in the Aseer region, Saudi Arabia. A validated self-administered online survey was distributed through various social media channels using snowball sampling between September 2022 and June 2024. The data from the online survey was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics.

Results: The sample included 388 participants. Just over half (53.1%) were male, and the remainder (46.9%) were female. Although a slight majority (54.9%) reported familiarity with ASPs, a professional practice gap was found; only 143 (36.9%) of the participants had direct experience working with such programs, while 64.7% reported inadequate training opportunities as a barrier to effective ASP implementation followed by lack of resources, lack of internal policies and guidelines, time constraints and lack of manpower (54.1%, 52.1%, 48.2% and 45.9%, respectively). Despite the high level of awareness across both genders and all HCPs, only half of the participants correctly identified that cutting antibiotic costs is not the primary goal of ASPs. There were significant differences among participants' views toward repeated education and online resources (p = 0.042 and p = 0.024, respectively).

Conclusion: While HCPs have a good understanding of AMR, a professional practice gap was found. Thus, the study recommends offering ongoing education and training programs for HCPs. Addressing implementation obstacles, such as resource limitations and unclear guidelines, is also essential.

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来源期刊

Risk Management and Healthcare Policy Medicine-Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

CiteScore

6.20

自引率

2.90%

发文量

242

审稿时长

16 weeks

期刊介绍： Risk Management and Healthcare Policy is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal focusing on all aspects of public health, policy and preventative measures to promote good health and improve morbidity and mortality in the population. Specific topics covered in the journal include: Public and community health Policy and law Preventative and predictive healthcare Risk and hazard management Epidemiology, detection and screening Lifestyle and diet modification Vaccination and disease transmission/modification programs Health and safety and occupational health Healthcare services provision Health literacy and education Advertising and promotion of health issues Health economic evaluations and resource management Risk Management and Healthcare Policy focuses on human interventional and observational research. The journal welcomes submitted papers covering original research, clinical and epidemiological studies, reviews and evaluations, guidelines, expert opinion and commentary, and extended reports. Case reports will only be considered if they make a valuable and original contribution to the literature. The journal does not accept study protocols, animal-based or cell line-based studies.