Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

Rural South African community perceptions of antibiotic access and use : qualitative evidence from a health and demographic surveillance system site

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Watkins, Jocelyn O. T. A., Wagner, Fezile, Gómez-Olivé, Francesc Xavier, Wertheim, Heiman , Sankoh, Osman and Kinsman, John (2019) Rural South African community perceptions of antibiotic access and use : qualitative evidence from a health and demographic surveillance system site. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 100 (6). pp. 1378-1390. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.18-0171 ISSN 0002-9637.

[img]
Preview
PDF
WRAP-Rural South-African-Community-Perceptions-Antibiotic-Access-Qualitative-Watkins-2019.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Download (626Kb) | Preview
Official URL: http://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.18-0171

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

Knowledge and practices of rural South African populations with regard to antibiotic access and use (ABACUS) remain understudied. By using the case of four villages in the north east of the country, our aim was to investigate popular notions and social practices related to antibiotics to inform patient-level social interventions for appropriate antibiotic use. To achieve this, we investigated where community members (village residents) were accessing and sourcing medication, and what they understood antibiotics and antibiotic resistance (ABR) to be. Embedded within the multicountry ABACUS project, this qualitative study uses interviews and focus group discussions. A sample of 60 community members was recruited from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System, situated in Mpumalanga Province, from April to August, 2017. We used the five abilities of seek, reach, pay, perceive, and engage in access to healthcare as proposed by Levesque’s “Access to Healthcare” framework. Respondents reported accessing antibiotics prescribed from legal sources: by nurses at the government primary healthcare clinics or by private doctors dispensed by private pharmacists. No account of the illegal purchasing of antibiotics was described. There was a mix of people who finished their prescription according to the instructions and those who did not. Some people kept antibiotics for future episodes of infection. The concept of “ABR” was understood by some community members when translated into related Xitsonga words because of knowledge tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS treatment regimens. Our findings indicate that regulation around the sale of antibiotics is enforced. Safer use of antibiotics and why resistance is necessary to understand need to be instilled. Therefore, context-specific educational campaigns, drawing on people’s understandings of antibiotics and informed by the experiences of other diseases, may be an important and deployable means of pro- moting the safe use of antibiotics.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Social Science & Systems in Health (SSSH)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Rural health -- South Africa, Antibiotics -- South Africa, Drug resistance in microorganisms -- South Africa
Journal or Publication Title: American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Publisher: American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN: 0002-9637
Official Date: 5 June 2019
Dates:
DateEvent
5 June 2019Published
15 April 2019Available
26 January 2019Accepted
Volume: 100
Number: 6
Page Range: pp. 1378-1390
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0171
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Open Access (Creative Commons)
Date of first compliant deposit: 6 June 2019
Date of first compliant Open Access: 11 June 2019
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
109595/Z/15/ZWellcome Trusthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010269
UNSPECIFIEDVolkswagen FoundationUNSPECIFIED
EP/M027503/1[EPSRC] Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000266
Open Access Version:
  • Publisher

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us