The Journal of Science Extension Research – Vol. 3, 2024
Table 9: Table showing the difference between the expected and observed values of data on the prescription of antibiotics for bacterial infections and the presence of an AMS program.
x² = 0.00763126 P-value = 0.93038769
Discussion The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) strategies and the impacts of awareness of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) on increased threat of resistance. The key findings of the study that emerged from the data collected within the surveys were; (1) there is a lack of awareness of AMR in the general public; (2) there is a statistically significant association between awareness of AMR and completing a course of antibiotics; (3) there is an awareness of the impact misuse of antibiotics can have on animals; (4) there is a statistically significant difference between awareness of AMR of the public versus clinicians; (5) AMS programs can impact the methods of prescription of antibiotics. The public survey collected data from 147 participants. Of this sample, 38% were aware of AMR and 10% were aware of AMS (Figure 5). The effectiveness of AMS strategies in a clinical workplace was supported in the clinician’s survey, which collected data from 26 participants, that 100% of clinicians were aware of both AMR and AMS (Figure 1 & 2). A chi-square test of independence was performed to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the awareness of AMR between the public and education.nsw.edu.au
clinicians. The p-value was significantly less than the alpha value = 0.05. The alternate hypothesis was accepted, as there was a significant difference in the awareness of AMR between the public and the clinicians. This suggests that further AMS strategies should be implemented to educate patients as well as professionals. The study investigated the association between awareness of resistance and the effect this has on completing a course of antibiotics, the alternative hypothesis was that there is an association. A chi-square test of independence was used to determine whether the hypothesis was correct. The pvalue was 0.0052 which is significantly less than the alpha value. This indicates that there was a statistically significant association between awareness of AMR and completion of a course of antibiotics. As shown in the results, awareness of AMR equated to people being more likely to complete a course of antibiotics, and public awareness was significantly less than clinicians. Therefore, it would be advisable that clinicians use AMS strategies to ensure they educate their patients on awareness. Studies have shown that the use of antibiotics prophylactically isn’t effective. In a study conducted on the use of gentamicin IDC prophylaxis for orthopaedic surgery, it was established that low infection rates occurred despite the presence of gentamicin or not (Bond S. 2017). The misuse of antibiotics is what creates superbugs and makes it much more difficult to treat infection. According to the WHO, the median rate of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) occurring was 12.11%. Increases in MRSA could compromise the management and control of Staphylococcus aureus, like other current superbugs have for diseases such as gonorrhoea (WHO, 2021). Further conclusions can be drawn from the survey on the pre-emptive use of antibiotics. Figure 8 shows what infection pets received
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