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Antibiotics
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Antibiotic Use in the Communities—2nd Edition
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Antibiotic Use in the Communities—2nd Edition

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Antibiotics Use and Antimicrobial Stewardship".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 2815

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Timo Juhani Lajunen

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Guest Editor
Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
Interests: antibiotic use in community; cultural differences; behavioural change; personality; attitudes; risk
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Mark Sullman

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Social Sciences, University of Nicosia, 2417 Nicosia, Cyprus
Interests: public health; applied psychology; traffic psychology; industrial and organisational psychology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antimicrobial resistance has rapidly increased and has become a major threat to global public health. It is accelerated by the reckless use of antibiotics in health care by health care workers and the public, as well as in agriculture. The cause for this increase in antimicrobial resistance is, to a large degree, behavioral. In addition to the appropriate prescription and use of antibiotics, other behavioral measures to prevent infections, such as maintaining vaccines and hygiene, help to prevent antibiotic resistance.

This Special Issue, “Antibiotic Use in the Community”, focuses on the behavioral aspects of antibiotic use and infection prevention in the community. After the success of the first volume on this topic, we are delighted to launch a second, in which we hope to bring together the new advances in this area of research. Papers addressing the great variety of behavioral aspects in antibiotic use and infection control are welcome. These can include socioeconomic, cultural, educational, and psychological studies, and can be based on any research design, from quantitative to qualitative studies and macro-level indicators.

We kindly invite original research articles as well as review papers. All articles will be peer reviewed.

Prof. Dr. Timo Juhani Lajunen
Prof. Dr. Mark Sullman
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • antibiotic use
  • community
  • behavior
  • socioeconomic factors
  • culture
  • values

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 556 KiB  
Article
The Persistence of Antibiotic Resistance in Observational Studies: Is It Really Due to Differences in Sub-Populations Rather than Antibiotic Use?
by Peter Collignon and John J. Beggs
Antibiotics 2025, 14(1), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14010039 - 6 Jan 2025
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Abstract
Background: The carriage of resistant bacteria and prior antimicrobial treatment are related, but in an individual, this diminishes over time. To better manage antimicrobial resistance risks, it is crucial that we better untangle any lasting impact of antibiotic use compared to other [...] Read more.
Background: The carriage of resistant bacteria and prior antimicrobial treatment are related, but in an individual, this diminishes over time. To better manage antimicrobial resistance risks, it is crucial that we better untangle any lasting impact of antibiotic use compared to other factors. This understanding is essential for informing antimicrobial stewardship programs and to better manage other important factors that likely contribute to persistently higher rates of antimicrobial resistance in different populations. The true association between antibiotic use and resistance is likely to be significantly overestimated due to the confounding influence of varying infection risk patterns within populations. Though missing explanatory covariates are a well-known cause of falsely interpreted statistical findings, how the problem manifests in this context has a particular and interpretable structure. This issue does not appear to have been previously addressed with clarity. To be more easily understood, a simple model is used to demonstrate this. Results: In our theoretical model case study, when we exclude an effect of past antibiotic usage, clinical history alone can predict future resistance patterns. Heterogeneity in infection risk and antibiotic resistance carriage rates, along with consequently observed antimicrobial treatment, often suffice to predict a pattern of resistance that mimics what is assumed to be caused by genuine biologically driven resistance by the associated use of antibiotics. The biological impact and/or lasting effects of antibiotics are not necessary for this prediction. Conclusions: Antimicrobial stewardship policies and future research must directly address how much of the apparent persistence of resistant bacteria results from biological consequences of antibiotic use compared to pure statistical confounding arising due to heterogeneous risks in community infection patterns. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotic Use in the Communities—2nd Edition)

Review

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22 pages, 624 KiB  
Review
Knowledge, Attitudes, Motivations, Expectations, and Systemic Factors Regarding Antimicrobial Use Amongst Community Members Seeking Care at the Primary Healthcare Level: A Scoping Review
by Nishana Ramdas, Johanna C. Meyer, Natalie Schellack, Brian Godman, Eunice Turawa and Stephen M. Campbell
Antibiotics 2025, 14(1), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14010078 - 13 Jan 2025
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Abstract
Background/Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Understanding the knowledge, attitudes, motivations, and expectations of community members regarding antimicrobial use is essential for effective stewardship interventions. This scoping review aimed to identify key [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Understanding the knowledge, attitudes, motivations, and expectations of community members regarding antimicrobial use is essential for effective stewardship interventions. This scoping review aimed to identify key themes relating to the critical areas regarding antimicrobial use among community members in primary healthcare (PHC), with a particular focus on LMICs. Methods: OVID Medline, PubMed, and CINAHL databases were searched using Boolean operators and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms relevant to antimicrobial use and community behaviors. The Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Study Design (PICOS) framework guided study selection, which focused on community members seeking care in PHC in LMICs. Data management and extraction were facilitated using the Covidence platform, with the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) qualitative checklist applied for qualitative studies. A narrative synthesis identified and grouped key themes and sub-themes. Results: The search identified 497 sources, of which 59 met the inclusion criteria, with 75% of the studies conducted in outpatient primary care settings. Four key themes were identified: (1) the ’patient’ theme, highlighting beliefs, knowledge, and expectations, which was the most prominent (40.5%); (2) the ’provider’ theme, emphasizing challenges related to clinical decision-making, knowledge gaps, and adherence to guidelines; (3) the ’healthcare systems’ theme, highlighting resource limitations, lack of infrastructure, and policy constraints; and (4) the ‘intervention/uptake’ theme, emphasizing strategies to improve future antibiotic use and enhance access to and quality of healthcare. Conclusions: Stewardship programs in PHC settings in LMICs should be designed to be context-specific, community-engaged, and accessible to individuals with varying levels of understanding, involving the use of information and health literacy to effectively reduce AMR. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotic Use in the Communities—2nd Edition)
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Other

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11 pages, 686 KiB  
Brief Report
Pet Owners’ Knowledge of Antibiotic Use and Antimicrobial Resistance and Their Antibiotic Practices: Comparison Between Contexts of Self and Pet
by Seema Aithal, Huiling Guo, Boon Han Teo, Timothy Chua, Zoe Jane-Lara Hildon and Angela Chow
Antibiotics 2025, 14(2), 158; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14020158 - 5 Feb 2025
Viewed by 944
Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to compare pet owners’ knowledge of antibiotic use, understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antibiotic practices for themselves and their pets to guide behavioral interventions to reduce AMR. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted between March 2023 and [...] Read more.
Objective: This study aimed to compare pet owners’ knowledge of antibiotic use, understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antibiotic practices for themselves and their pets to guide behavioral interventions to reduce AMR. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted between March 2023 and December 2023 involved 1080 pet owners recruited from 16 veterinary clinics in Singapore. An anonymous self-administered survey assessed the participants’ knowledge of antibiotic use and AMR as well as their adherence to recommended antibiotic practices for themselves and their pets. McNemar’s Chi-square test was used to identify significant differences in the outcome variables between self and pets. The differences between the type of pet owned (dog owner/non-dog owner) were assessed using Pearson’s Chi-square test. Results: Among the 1080 pet owners surveyed, poorer knowledge of antibiotic use (46.3% vs. 33.2%; p < 0.001) and inappropriate antibiotic use (33.9% vs. 23.5%; p < 0.001) was more common for participants’ pets than for themselves. Compared to dog owners, non-dog owners had poorer knowledge of antibiotic use for their pets (poor knowledge, 55.2%; 42.4%; p < 0.001), but the knowledge of AMR occurrence and antibiotic practices did not differ between the dog owners and the non-dog owners. Conclusions: Pet owners have significantly poorer antibiotic use knowledge and antibiotic practices for their pets than for themselves. Compared to dog owners, non-dog owners have poorer knowledge of antibiotic use. Educational initiatives addressing pet owners’ knowledge deficits may improve their antibiotic practices for their pets and themselves, emphasizing the importance of cross-sectoral One Health planning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibiotic Use in the Communities—2nd Edition)
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