Impact of a pharmacist-led educational intervention on knowledge, attitude, and practice toward the rational use of antibiotics among healthcare workers in a secondary care hospital in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Introduction: Growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and decreasing efficacy of the available antimicrobials have become a significant public health concern. The antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) ensures the appropriate use of antimicrobials and mitigates resistance prevalence through various interventions. One of the core components of the ASP is to educate healthcare workers (HWs). Therefore, this study aims to identify the impact of a pharmacist-led educational intervention targeting knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding rational antibiotic use among healthcare professionals in a secondary care hospital in Punjab. Methods: This is a single-center, questionnaire-based, pre–post interventional study conducted over a six-month time period. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 26. Results: Regarding the pre-interventional knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) score of the respondents, 90.3% had a good knowledge score, 81.5% had a positive attitude, and 72.3% of HWs (excluding doctors) had a good practice score. Additionally, 74.6% of the doctors had a good practice score. After educational intervention, there was a significant improvement in the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the respondent HWs (p-value <0.001). Furthermore, males have higher knowledge scores compared to females in the pre- and post-intervention stages (p-value <0.05), and doctors differ from nurses regarding knowledge scores in both pre- and post-intervention stages. Conclusion: Considering educational programs as the backbone of the ASP, it is imperative to sustain efforts in the ongoing educational programs of HWs to foster high awareness and adherence to the ASP among HWs.