| Abstract [eng] |
Loreta Sinkevič. Evaluation of Parental Attitudes Regarding Antibiotic Use in Children with Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections; Master's Thesis/Supervisor Doc. dr. Sigita Burokiene; Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine; Centre for Pharmacy and Pharmacology - Vilnius. Aim of the thesis. To assess parents' views and practices regarding the use of antibiotics in children with acute upper respiratory tract infections. Tasks of the thesis. 1. To introduce the principles of rational antibiotic use in the treatment of respiratory tract infections in children. 2. To find out parents' views on the use of antibiotics in the treatment of children. 3. To find out parents' experiences of antibiotic treatment. 4. To identify factors associated with irrational use of antibiotics in the treatment of children with acute upper respiratory tract infections. Methods. The study was carried out in the Paediatric Emergency Department of Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinics, Vilnius, Lithuania. The study was conducted from October 2023 to December 2023. The study was a single-item quantitative survey - a questionnaire survey. The study was authorised by the VULSK (Annex 2). Microsoft Office and SPSS version 24.0 were used for the statistical analysis of the data. Results. More than half of the respondents (52.1%) strongly disagreed and more than a quarter (27.6%) partially disagreed with the statement that any child with a fever can take antibiotics. The majority of respondents (86%) know that antibiotics can treat bacterial infections, and a significant proportion of parents (62.5%) know that antibiotics do not treat viral infections. 58.6% of respondents reported that the pharmacist always provided information about the instructions for taking antibiotics and adherence to the treatment regimen. Only 0.5% (n = 2) of parents have given their child who had a high fever for a few days in the past antibiotics without the doctor prescribing them. Conclusions. 1. Rational use of antibiotics is important for effective and safe treatment and for reducing the spread of antibiotic resistance. 2. Parental attitudes towards the irrational use of antibiotics in the treatment of their children are quite critical, but in order to effectively control antibiotic resistance, education and awareness-raising measures are necessary to achieve responsible antibiotic use. 3. The results of the study show that most parents had a positive experience with antibiotic treatment for their children. 4. Factors associated with the irrational use of antibiotics in the treatment of children with acute upper respiratory tract infections were identified. These include the quality of communication between medical professionals and parents, parents' age, experience and level of education. |
