Parental Misconceptions About Antibiotic Use Continues

A study in the August 2015 issue of Pediatrics finds that misunderstandings about the proper use of antibiotics persist among parents of children under the age of 6.

Over the past two decades, antibiotic use with children has decreased in the U.S., perhaps due to effective educational campaigns and other factors.  However, a recent study on the prevalence of parental misconceptions about antibiotic use, conducted by the HPHC Institute, demonstrated that parents still have misconceptions and also found that the misunderstandings about antibiotic use are more prevalent among parents who are using Medicaid.

These findings are important because parental attitudes about prescription drugs can influence pediatricians to prescribe antibiotics when they may not be necessary, which can contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. Not only were parents of Medicaid-insured children less likely to understand when antibiotic use was appropriate, but this group also had less improvement in their knowledge between 2000 and 2013.

Jonathan Finkelstein, MD, MPH, a faculty member in the Department of Population Medicine and Boston Children’s Hospital, was a study investigator and senior author. Dr. Finkelstein believes that future interventions should take into account the complexity of common childhood diseases and tailor messaging to address local attitudes and misconceptions about these drugs.
 
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