Pilot Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions of Hajj Deployed Health Care Workers on Antibiotics and Antibiotic Prescriptions for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections: Results from Two Hajj Seasons

Hamid Bokhary; Osamah Barasheed; Moataz Abd El Ghany; Ameneh Khatami; Grant A Hill-Cawthorne; Harunor Rashid; Hajj Research Team

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed5010018

Pilot Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions of Hajj Deployed Health Care Workers on Antibiotics and Antibiotic Prescriptions for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections: Results from Two Hajj Seasons

Trop Med Infect Dis. 2020 Jan 29;5(1):18. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed5010018.

Authors

Hamid Bokhary^{1

2

3

4}, Osamah Barasheed⁵, Moataz Abd El Ghany^{3

4

6}, Ameneh Khatami⁶, Grant A Hill-Cawthorne^{1

3}, Harunor Rashid^{3

7

8}; Hajj Research Team⁵

Collaborators

Hajj Research Team:
Omar Banamah⁵, Yahay Alnashri⁵, Abdalqader Baqis⁵, Aziza Bokhari⁵, Yaser Thabit⁵, Hani Abduljalil⁵, Mumina Abukar⁵, Abdulrahman Abulqomssan⁵, Raghad Al thobita⁵, Abrar Albarakati⁵, Saleh Alghaythi⁵, Hassan Al-Harthi⁵, Bashayer Alhawsawi⁵, Abdulrhman Aljoher⁵, Abdullah Aljubairy⁵, Abdulaziz Alluhaibi⁵, Shorooq AlOrabi⁵, Ibrahim Alsalhi⁵, Fawaz Al-shammari⁵, Sewar Alshareef⁵, Walaa Alsiyami⁵, Ahmed Altalhi⁵, Abdulrhman Althaqafi⁵, Faisal Althobaiti⁵, Mohammad Althobaiti⁵, Sawsan Althubyani⁵, Rayan Al-Tirkistani⁵, Yusuf Alzahrani⁵, Ahmad Asiri⁵, Kawthar Barnawi⁵, Razan Bin Salman⁵, Nihad Fatani⁵, Nasser Ghalibi⁵, Afnan Hakami⁵, Nedaa Karami⁵, Abdulrhman Khardli⁵, Amnah Kinsarah⁵, Fatimah Mahdi⁵, Hudaa Mehkri⁵, Emad Miyajan⁵, Abrar Najjar⁵, Anas Olwi⁵, Abdurrhman Qahtani⁵, Malak Zahrani⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
² University Medical Center, Umm Al-Qura University, Al Jamiah, Makkah, Makkah Region 24243, Saudi Arabia.
³ The Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.
⁴ The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.
⁵ The Executive Administration for Research and Innovation, King Abdullah Medical City, Al Mashair, Makkah, Makkah Region 24246, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ The Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.
⁷ The Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, The Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia.
⁸ National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), Kids Research Institute at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health issue. Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are common illnesses during Hajj, for which antibiotics are often inappropriately prescribed. Hajj healthcare workers' (HCW) knowledge, attitudes and perceptions (KAP) about AMR and antibiotic use for URTIs are not known. We conducted a survey among HCWs during Hajj to explore their KAP regarding antibiotic use for URTIs in pilgrims. Electronic or paper-based surveys were distributed to HCWs during the Hajj in 2016 and 2017. A total of 85 respondents aged 25 to 63 (median 40) years completed the surveys. Most participants were male (78.8%) and were physicians by profession (95.3%). Around 85% and 19% of respondents claimed to have heard about AMR and antimicrobial stewardship programs, respectively, among whom most had obtained their knowledge during their qualification. Implementation of URTI treatment guidelines was very low. In conclusion, HCWs at Hajj have significant knowledge gaps regarding AMR, often do not use standard clinical criteria to diagnose URTIs and display a tendency to prescribe antibiotics for URTIs.

Keywords: Hajj; antimicrobial resistance; antimicrobial stewardship; attitudes; guideline; health care workers; knowledge; mass gathering; perceptions; saudi arabia; survey; upper respiratory tract infection.