Healthcare workers’ perceptions of antibiotics use during COVID-19 pandemic and trainings in antibiotics prescription
The most used antibiotics were Azithromycin (87.7%), Ceftriaxone (34.6%) and Moxifloxacin (18.2%) and the least prescribed were Gentamycin (1%) and Metronidazole (3.4%). The main route of administration was orally (87%) followed by intravenously (63.2%). The course of antibiotics administration was between 5 to 7 days (55%). Vitamin C (91.5%) and Zinc (89.1%) were widely used as second line treatments in COVID-19 patients (Table IV ).
A significant association was identified between healthcare workers occupation and stewardship training, perception of antibiotic use during the early phase of the pandemic, antibiotics request by patients and the effect of antibiotic prescription on the emergence of new strains (Table V ). Stewardship training was significantly more observed among nurses (23.4%) than physicians (8.3%). Moreover, pharmacists (51.1%) believed significantly, more than physicians (27.5%), that the use of antibiotics will affect the emergence of new strains. Healthcare occupation did not affect the other perceptions (Table V ).
When determining the effect of antibiotics training on healthcare workers perception regarding antibiotics use, an increase in healthcare workers knowledge regarding the unnecessary use of antibiotics and influence on drug resistance was observed. Additionally, data in this study revealed a significant association with healthcare belief that antibiotic prescription would increase mortality (Table V I).