P-05 Assessment of pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practices regarding non-prescription antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in Guyana.

Design and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of 143 pharmacists using a convenient sampling method. Data was collected using a self-administered piloted questionnaire. SPSS version 20 was used for analysis using a 5% level of significance. Contingency tables were used as methods of analysis, and scores were computed and categorized according to 60% of the maximum score of each parameter. Knowledge (Good = 60% of 68), Attitude (Positive = 60% of 32) and Practice (Good = 60% of 46).

Results: A total of 143 pharmacists participated in this survey. Overall, the participants displayed good knowledge (89.5%) about non-prescription antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. 71.3% had positive attitude towards non-prescription antibiotic use but 55.2% displayed positive attitude towards antibiotic resistance. 83.9% displayed good practice regarding the safety of antibiotic use without medical prescriptions, and 81.8% displayed good practice regarding the use of antibiotics for specific health conditions without medical prescriptions.

Conclusion: Pharmacists in Guyana have demonstrated good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practices regarding antibiotic use and resistance. Overall, these findings are in accordance with findings reported by other studies globally. However, there were some gaps in assessing the practice of the pharmacists and this warrants attention. The assessment of the prevalence of prescribing antibiotics without a medical prescription is a critical component when evaluating the overall practice of pharmacists.