Awareness, knowledge, and attitude of pharyngitis, antibiotic use, antibiotic resistance and health-seeking behaviors among Al Qassim population, 2022

Background: Acute pharyngitis is a common infection and people cannot differentiate viral pictures from bacterial ones. The lack of differentiation on when to use antibiotics might lead to misuse. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, and attitude of the Al Qassim population toward pharyngitis, antibiotic use, antibiotic resistance, and health-seeking behaviors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Al Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from June to October 2022. The data were collected using the Arabic version of a validated self-administrative online questionnaire, which consisted of four sections including socio-demographic data, awareness of symptoms and risk factors of bacterial or viral pharyngitis, knowledge about the treatment of pharyngitis, antibiotic resistance and the difference between viral and bacterial pharyngitis, and the desire for knowledge about pharyngitis examination, causes, treatment, complications, the desire for antibiotics, and others. Results: In this study, data were collected from 431 participants, of whom 55.7% were males and 68.4% were younger than 40 years old. Most participants reported that they have had sore and dry throat before (91.5%). Moreover, 45.5% of participants reported that symptoms of a sore throat lasted for 2-3 days. Considering the cause, cold or flu was the most common (50.6%), followed by air conditioning (37.1%). Additionally, 36.4% strongly disagreed with the need for an antibiotic. Conclusion: A high prevalence of sore throat was found, and most participants had good knowledge and attitude toward dependence on antibiotics during sore throat.