Malaysian parental attitudes toward medicine use in children.

INTRODUCTION: Parental attitudes can have a significant impact on the use of medicines in children. This study aimed to investigate parental attitudes towards medicines used in children in Malaysia and the sociodemographic factors associated with it. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study using convenience sampling was conducted among 230 parents with children aged 12 years and below in Malaysia. Data were collected between November 2020 and January 2021 through online platforms. RESULTS: The majority of respondents were mothers (67.8%) and aged between 40-49 years (43.0%). The results showed that antipyretics were the most commonly used medicines followed by cough and cold medicines, antibiotics, and analgesics. The results further revealed that parents have neutral attitudes toward the use of medicines in children (69.90 ± 12.12 from a total score of 105), and mothers and younger parents having a significantly more positive attitude than fathers and older parents, respectively (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study provided insights into the types of medicines commonly used in children and parental attitudes towards medicines used in children in Malaysia.

Improving shared decision-making in adolescents through antibiotic education.

Background Shared decision-making is vital in achieving desired drug therapy goals, especially with antibiotics, in view of the potential long-term reduction in drug resistance. However, shared decision-making is rarely practiced with adolescent patients. Objectives The aim of the study was to identify the effect antibiotic education has on willingness to engage in shared decision-making among adolescents in Malaysia. Setting Participants from secondary schools in Malaysia were enrolled with ethical approval. Method The adolescents answered a validated questionnaire, which included demographics, antibiotic knowledge, attitude towards antibiotic use, and the Control Preference Scale, which measures willingness to engage in shared decision-making. Afterwards, antibiotic education was delivered to participating students. Main outcome measure Knowledge about and attitude toward antibiotics were investigated. Results A total of 510 adolescents participated in the study. Knowledge of antibiotics significantly increased post education (pre 3.2 ± 1.8 vs. post 6.8 ± 2.1, p < 0.001), as did attitude score (pre 3.3 ± 1.7 vs. post 5.4 ± 1.9, p = 0.003). Interestingly, adolescents were less likely to be passively involved in shared decision-making post education (χ = 36.9, df = 2, p < 0.001). Adolescents who were more collaborative in shared decision-making had a significantly higher total antibiotics knowledge and attitude scores compared to those who were not collaborative (p = 0.003). Conclusion The present work demonstrates that antibiotic education improves knowledge, attitude, and willingness to engage in shared decision-making among adolescents. Antibiotic education can therefore be introduced as a strategy to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use.