Knowledge and perception of antibiotic resistance and stewardship among pre-health and agriculture undergraduate students.

Abstract

The global threat of antibiotic-resistant infections has resulted in health organizations compiling an Antibiotic Stewardship Program (ASP), in which the education of current and future medical prescribers and farmers is central to the preservation of current and future antimicrobial treatments. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the knowledge and perceived threat of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance, as well as the perceived benefit of antibiotic stewardship education, among undergraduate students majoring in Biology and Agriculture at Fort Hays State University. I hypothesized that the difference in knowledge and perceptions between Biology and Agriculture students would be significantly different because of differences in curriculum requirements. Framed by the health belief model (HBM), a quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured online survey of 136 undergraduate student participants. A χ2 analysis was used to assess differences between the respondents in their knowledge and perceptions of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, and antibiotic stewardship education at the undergraduate level. Results showed that, although Agriculture students perceived antibiotic resistance as less threatening than Biology/pre-health students, both undergraduate groups were knowledgeable about the problem and wanted more academic education on the issue. These findings create a solid foundation to initiate a conversation on the curriculum development to meet ASP goals and objectives at the undergraduate level while contributing to an ongoing international effort to educate future prescribers and farmers on the importance of antibiotics in medicine and farming and to reduce antibiotic resistance.