فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

INTRODUCTION: Antibiotics are considered the most commonly sold drugs in developing countries.In India, these drugs are very much accessible without a prescription. This irrational and misuseof antibiotics results not only in the emergence of resistance of bacterial strains but also leads toadverse reactions.AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice ofantibiotics usage among dental patients.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study design: This study was a cross‑sectional design; a prevalidatedstructured questionnaire comprising 24 questions was used.SAMPLE SIZE: Six hundred and ten patients visiting a dental hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India,were included in the study.RESULTS: The dental patients involved in self‑medication were more than 70%. 80.2% of thestudy group opted selection of antibiotics from their previous prescription from dental or medicalprofessional. Adverse effects were faced by 7.8% of patients on taking self‑medication. The studygroup was aware of the common dental procedures such as extraction and root canal treatmentin which antibiotics were commonly prescribed. Half of the patients (53.8%) do not know the termantibiotic misuse, and 43.3% of the group opted antibiotic misuse to be unacceptable.CONCLUSION: The study revealed the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the patients aboutself‑medication in the Indian scenario. There is need for health‑care professionals and governmentbodies to enlighten the public about the harmful effects of self‑medication with antibiotics to overcomethe antibiotic resistance.