Table 6.
Knowledge and Perceptions of the respondents regarding antibiotics use for children.
| Health care professionals, n = 1157 (11 %) | Medical students, n = 2322 (23 %) | Adults in community, n = 6747 (66 %) | Total (N = 10,226) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In your opinion, how safe are antibiotics that are used for children? | ||||
| Extremely safe | 52 (4.5) | 117 (5.0) | 401 (5.9) | 570 (5.8) |
| Safe | 609 (52.6) | 945 (40.7) | 2532 (37.5) | 4086 (40) |
| Unsafe | 362 (31.3) | 781 (33.6) | 1964 (29.1) | 3107 (30.4) |
| Extremely unsafe | 48 (4.1) | 91 (3.9) | 374 (5.5) | 513 (5.0) |
| I don't know | 83 (7.2) | 388 (16.7) | 1476 (21.9) | 1947 (19.0) |
| All adult antibiotics go through a testing process in adults before they are given a license and put on the market. Do you think that all antibiotics prescribed for children have gone through a similar testing and licensing process for use in children before they are prescribed/used for children? | ||||
| Yes | 478 (41.3) | 879 (37.9) | 2433 (36.1) | 3790 (37.1) |
| No | 401 (34.7) | 749 (32.3) | 1476 (21.9) | 2617 (25.6) |
| I don't know | 278 (24.0) | 694 (29.9) | 2838 (42.1) | 3810 (37.3) |
| Although it may come as a surprise, the actual situation is that some antibiotics that are routinely prescribed for children have not been fully studied or licensed for use in children. Also, sometimes the dose used has to be increased beyond that which has been recommended by the manufacturer. Have you ever read or heard about this? | ||||
| Yes | 678 (58.6) | 1096 (47.2) | 2185(32.4) | 3959 (38.7) |
| No | 479 (41.4) | 1226 (52.8) | 4562(67.6) | 6267 (61.3) |
| Do you think that parents should be told every time their child is prescribed an antibiotic that has not been fully tested for use in children? | ||||
| Yes | 714 (61.7) | 1745 (75.2) | 5537 (82.1) | 7996 (78.2) |
| No | 443 (37.4) | 577 (24.8) | 1810 (26.8) | 2830 (27.7) |
| Why do you think a doctor would prescribe an antibiotic that has not been fully tested for use in children? (More than one answer could be selected) | ||||
| The doctor felt that the benefit of the medicine would outweigh the risks of using it | 867 (74.9) | 1526 (65.7) | 3805 (56.4) | 6198 (60.6) |
| Doctors have enough experience to prescribe all medicines | 409 (35.4) | 913 (39.3) | 2550 (37.8) | 3872 (37.9) |
| There is no alternative fully tested medicine for children | 555 (48.0) | 1127 (48.5) | 2258 (33.5) | 3940 (38.5) |