ArticlePloS one2018
Antibiotic use, knowledge and health literacy among the general population in Berlin, Germany and its surrounding rural areas.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- What is the Prevalence of Low Health Literacy in European Union Member States? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of general internal medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Surveys of knowledge and awareness of antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in general population: A systematic review.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- Association between health literacy and antibiotic-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.BMC public health · 2026Article
- The changing landscape of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions among advanced practice clinicians in the United States, 2011 and 2022.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2026Article
- Survey of public health education combined with intelligent prescription intervention system on antibiotic use in the county-level hospitals.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Antibiotic dispensing practices in community pharmacies: Implications for antimicrobial stewardship in resource-constrained settings.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Article
- Antibiotics Usage and Avoidance in Germany and Poland: Attitudes and Knowledge of Patients, Physicians, and Pharmacists.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Use of the FebriDx point-of-care test for lower respiratory tract infections in primary care: a qualitative interview study.BJGP open · 2024Article
- The antibiotic knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of patients purchasing antibiotics with prescription in Russia: a qualitative, comparative analysis.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2024Article
- Understanding antibiotic use in the community setting in Thailand: Does communication matter?PloS one · 2024Article
- Urban-rural differences in health literacy in the metropolitan area of Berlin, Germany, and its surroundings.European journal of public health · 2023Article
- Assessment of rational use of antimicrobials: a cross-sectional study among people of Nepal.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2023Article
- Health Literacy in Ethiopia: Evidence Synthesis and Implications.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2023Review
- Relationship between Health Literacy and Proper Antibiotic Use Awareness in Tehran 2019-2020.Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · 2023Article
- Perspectives of Immigrants and Native Dutch on Antibiotic Use: A Qualitative Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Providing antibiotics to immigrants: a qualitative study of general practitioners' and pharmacists' experiences.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- Antibiotic Use and Resistance Knowledge Assessment of Personnel on Chicken Farms with High Levels of Antimicrobial Resistance: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Ica, Peru.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Knowledge and practices related to antibiotic use among women in Malang, Indonesia.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesKnowledge concerning antibiotic use in the general population is insufficient. The way health literacy is related to antibiotic use aside from knowledge needs further investigation. Our aim was to compare the levels of knowledge of antibiotics and health literacy in individuals who had taken antibiotics in recent years compared with those who not had taken antibiotics.
methodsA population-based cross-sectional survey of 2,000 individuals aged 35 and older from Berlin, Germany and its surrounding rural and suburban areas (response rate 59%) with strata urban/rural, sex, age, and education. Computer-assisted personal interviews were conducted by external, trained interviewers during home visits. Knowledge, health literacy, and antibiotic use were assessed using standardized questionnaires.
resultsIn all, 33.3% (666/2,000) of the participants indicated having had an antimicrobial therapy during the previous 12 months. Adjusting for sex, age, educational level and health literacy, individuals with four correct answers regarding antibiotics were 1.70 times and those with three correct answers 1.94 more likely to have had a history of recent antibiotic use than those who did not have any correct answers. Individuals with sufficient health literacy were 0.57 times less likely to have had a recent history of antibiotic use than individuals with insufficient health literacy.
conclusionPatients who have used antibiotics might have more knowledge as a result of their recent involvement with the topic of antibiotic use; health literacy may be a preventive mechanism to use antibiotics more critically. Besides improving the health knowledge of the general population and of vulnerable groups such as patients with low levels of health literacy, intervention strategies should focus on providers as well.
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Registered trials
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