Knowledge, attitude and behaviours of mothers with children in high school age about antibiotic use: Kırşehir province sample

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude and behaviours of mothers about antibiotic use. For this purpose, the study was conducted in accordance with the descriptive survey model. The study group was consisted of mothers of 355 students who study at Kırşehir High School in Kırşehir Province. The survey we developed in collecting data was used. According to this, the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of the participants regarding antibiotic use were examined in terms of variables such as age, occupation, educational status, family income and health assurance. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS 23.0 program using frequency, percentage and Chi-Square statistics and the findings were discussed together with the literature. The findings from the study revealed that the participants' use of antibiotics with their health insurance; their behaviours of keeping the drugs in suitable conditions / places with their age; their behaviours of taking attention to expire date of drugs with their age, educational background and health insurance; their behaviours of reading the prospectus with their job, educational background and health insurance; their knowledge of the reasons for using antibiotics, the rules of use of antibiotics, the interaction of antibiotics with other drugs, the duration of use of the antibiotic, the health effects of the use of unconscious or overdose antibiotics and the availability of antibiotics at the pharmacy with educational background and health insurance; their behaviours of knowing the advisor and informant of the drugs they are taking and the behaviours of the antibiotic use duration with age and educational background; their views about the possible effects of use of unnecessary and incorrect antibiotics with family income, educational background and health insurance; their views about interaction of antibiotics with other drugs, health effects of unconscious or overdose of antibiotics and how antibiotics are written by a doctor with family income; lastly, their behaviours of the use the antibiotic use duration with family income show differences. Accordingly, considering the adverse effects of antibiotic resistance on the national economy and the health of individuals it is suggested that awareness raising studies on the use of rational drugs and antibiotics should be sustained on the needs.