• Idongesit L Jackson, Mary R Akpan, and Grace O Adebayo.
• Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Biopharmacy, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
• Afr Health Sci. 2023 Dec 1; 23 (4): 195202195-202.

BackgroundAssessment of knowledge and perception of healthcare students regarding antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) would facilitate more effective education of these future prescribers.ObjectivesTo assess knowledge and perception of AMR and AMS among healthcare students in Nigerian universities.MethodsThis was a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey of medical, nursing and pharmacy undergraduate students from November 2019 to January 2020, using both paper and electronic modes of self-administration.ResultsA total of 335 students participated in the survey. Mean age of respondents was 23±3 years; 114 (34.4%) were in their 5th year of study. Most (78.9%) of the respondents agreed that widespread use of antimicrobials promotes AMR. Only 70 (21.1%) were aware that poor hand hygiene promotes AMR; 45.9% (42.7%, 37.3% and 57.7% for medicine, nursing and pharmacy respectively, p = 0.007) agreed that AMR is promoted by substandard quality of antimicrobials. Majority (94.3%) perceived AMR as a worldwide problem. Over half (60.8%) were not familiar with the term 'antimicrobial stewardship'. Eleven (3.3%) and 122 (36.9%) rated their AMS knowledge as 'very good' and 'poor' respectively.ConclusionsNigerian healthcare students had suboptimal knowledge of AMR and AMS. Current undergraduate healthcare curriculum should be reviewed to incorporate AMS principles.© 2023 Jackson IL et al.

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