Public understanding of antibiotic resistance

Buchan, Sarah and Smith, Emily (2023) Public understanding of antibiotic resistance.

Anonymous participants were invited to respond to a series of questions relating to their knowledge of antibiotic resistance. A questionnaire comprising 21 questions was devised using Google Forms to assess public understanding of AR. An online questionnaire was favoured over manual distribution to allow for honest responses and to provide respondents with anonymity. The initial 4 questions sought to gather information relating to the demographics of the participant, a further 9 questions related to personal experience of antibiotics and understanding of correct use/disposal and the remaining 8 questions assessed participant knowledge of the causes and absolute/relative global impact of AR. The majority of the 17 questions relating to AR were multiple choice (13/17) to ensure ready comparison across the cohort and ensure that questions were quick and easy for respondents to answer. The questionnaire did not ask for participant-identifiable information. Ethical approval was obtained from the central research ethics panel at Bournemouth University prior to the start of the study. The study was conducted according to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. A participant information sheet and participant agreement form were included at the start of the questionnaire and a checkbox was used to confirm written participant consent.