Knowledge and attitude towards antibiotics use among mothers attending pediatric clinics in king Saud medical city, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2021

Background: Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are particularly common in children and are a major source of antibiotic misuse, which leads to antibiotic resistance development. Aims: To assess the Knowledge and Attitude towards antibiotics use among mothers Attending pediatric clinics in King Saud medical city |(KSMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in pediatric clinics in KSMC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between March 2021 and August 2021. Desired population in this study was mothers of children aged ≤ 14 years Attending pediatric clinics in KSMC, Riyadh, they were selected via a convenient non-probability sampling technique. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire and analysis was performed using (SPSS). Results: A total of 422 mothers participated in this study. 77.3% of the parents had poor knowledge of the use of antibiotics in children for URTIs, even though the majority of the participants (93.4%) considered physicians as the primary source of information. Only 17.3% of the participants strongly agreed that most of the URTIs are of viral origin and only 12.3% of the participants correctly know that antibiotics have side effects and 39.8% strongly agreed that the inappropriate use of antibiotics reduces their efficacy and drives bacterial resistance. Fever and ear ache were the most common reasons for which parents visited the physician. Additionally, mothers have child with history of chronic disease considered as have good knowledge compared to mothers not have child with history of chronic disease, with significant association (P = 0.007). Conclusion: The relationship between mothers and physicians is trusted, but Saudi mothers are insufficiently informed about antibiotics' use for URTIs, which results in inappropriate attitudes and practices. Educational interventions for both parents and physicians will reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and resistance.