{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T04:56:05Z","timestamp":1789448165934,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,1,30]],"date-time":"2020-01-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1580342400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/journals\/pages\/open_access\/funder_policies\/chorus\/standard_publication_model"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis and irrational prescribing behaviour has been identified as a contributing factor. The current study aimed to assess the knowledge of, attitudes towards and practices regarding antibiotic prescribing of medical doctors providing free healthcare services in the outpatient departments of public hospitals in Sierra Leone. In addition, we evaluated prescribing patterns of antibiotics.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The study has two parts. First, we conducted a cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire to assess doctor\u2019s knowledge of, attitudes towards and practices regarding prescribing antibiotics. Second, using patient medical records, we used the World Health Organization methodology on how to assess drug use in health facilities to evaluate prescribing patterns of antibiotics in four selected public hospitals in Sierra Leone.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Of 130 administered questionnaires, 119 were returned, for a response rate of 91.5%. The majority of doctors (n=83 [69.7%]) agreed that amoxicillin is safe in the first 3\u00a0weeks of pregnancy and considered antibiotic resistance a global (n=108 [90.7%]) and national (n=97 [81.5%]) public health crisis. Less than a quarter of medical doctors agreed that antibiotics may speed up the recovery when added to malaria (n=25 [21%]) or cold and cough (n=81 [68%]) therapies. Prescribing pattern results show that children &amp;lt;5\u00a0y of age (adjusted odds ratio 5.199 [confidence interval 2.743 to 9.855], p&amp;lt;0.0001) were more likely to be prescribed an antibiotic than pregnant women\/lactating mothers. Penicillins were the most commonly prescribed pharmacological class of antibiotics, with amoxicillin being the most commonly prescribed penicillin.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Doctors demonstrated a sound knowledge of antibiotics and antibiotics resistance, with a positive attitude towards prescribing antibiotics. However, the prescribing pattern of antibiotics was irrational, necessitating the need for the establishment of audit and feedback programmes such as antimicrobial stewardship programmes.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/trstmh\/trz137","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,1,7]],"date-time":"2020-01-07T20:10:57Z","timestamp":1578427857000},"page":"448-458","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Knowledge, attitude and antibiotic prescribing patterns of medical doctors providing free healthcare in the outpatient departments of public hospitals in Sierra Leone: a national cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"114","author":[{"given":"John Alimamy","family":"Kabba","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, 76 Yanta West Road, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Center for Drug Safety and Policy Research, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Shaanxi Center for Health Reform and Development Research, Xi\u2019an, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nigatu","family":"Tadesse","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, 76 Yanta West Road, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Center for Drug Safety and Policy Research, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Shaanxi Center for Health Reform and Development Research, Xi\u2019an, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter Bai","family":"James","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone"},{"name":"Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Herbart","family":"Kallon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chenai","family":"Kitchen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy China Pharmaceutical University Nanjing, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Naveel","family":"Atif","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, 76 Yanta West Road, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Center for Drug Safety and Policy Research, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Shaanxi Center for Health Reform and Development Research, Xi\u2019an, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Minghuan","family":"Jiang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, 76 Yanta West Road, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Center for Drug Safety and Policy Research, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Shaanxi Center for Health Reform and Development Research, Xi\u2019an, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khezar","family":"Hayat","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, 76 Yanta West Road, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Center for Drug Safety and Policy Research, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an, China"},{"name":"Shaanxi Center for Health Reform and Development Research, Xi\u2019an, 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