Table 1.

Awareness and interpretations of ‘drug resistance’

	Chiang Rai		Salavan
	‘due yah’		‘due yah’		‘lueng yah’
Awareness in rural population	72.9% (67.4–77.8)		27.1% (22.2–32.6)		58.8% (54.6–63.0)
Top five interpretations
Rank 1	Body becomes tolerant to medicine	54.1% (49.3–58.9)	Body becomes tolerant to medicine	38.1% (30.4–46.4)	Body becomes tolerant to medicine	50.9% (44.7–57.1)
Rank 2	Taking medicine incorrectly	12.5% (10.2–15.3)	Patient is ‘stubborn’, refuses medicine	21.8% (14.8–31.0)	Addicted to/preference for medicine	24.9% (20.2–30.2)
Rank 3	Reference to antibiotics, drug-resistant germs	10.6% (8.1– 13.8)	Side effects, drug allergy	9.2% (5.2–15.8)	Reference to antibiotics, drug-resistant germs	9.6% (6.9– 13.1)
Rank 4	Don’t know	6.3% (4.6–8.7)	Reference to antibiotics, drug-resistant germs	7.7% (4.7– 12.5)	Don’t know	4.0% (2.3–6.8)
Rank 5	Side effects, drug allergy	4.2% (2.6–6.7)	Addicted to/preference for medicine	7.1% (3.5–13.8)	Sickness is ‘stubborn’/unresponsive	2.9% (1.3–6.2)

Source: Authors’ analysis of survey data.

Notes: Ranking percentages only include respondents who indicated that they had heard the respective term ‘drug resistance’ before. 95% CIs in parentheses. Chiang Rai: n=871; Salavan (due yah): n=206; Salavan (lueng yah): n=470. Population-weighted statistics, accounting for complex survey design. Only single response permitted. In Salavan, the common response ‘due yah means lueng yah’ (24.8% (18.4–32.6)) was recoded to incorporate respondent’s definition of lueng yah. Entries in bold relate directly to clinical definition of antimicrobial resistance.