ArticlePharmacy practice
Culture of antibiotic use in Kosovo - an interview study with patients and health professionals.
Article in Pharmacy practice. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physicians', pharmacists', and nurses' education of patients about antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in primary care settings: a qualitative systematic literature review.Frontiers in antibiotics · 2024Pooled it
- The vicious cycle of the public's irrational use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections: A mixed methods systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Perception and practice of self-medication with antibiotics among medical students in Sudanese universities: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2022Trial
- Economic evaluation of antimicrobial stewardship programme in primary care in Kosovo: study protocol.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Perspectives and Challenges of Healthcare Professionals, Patients, and Caregivers Regarding Utilizing Antibiotics and Implementing Antibiotic Stewardship in Healthcare Facilities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Article
- Antimicrobial Use and Awareness of Antimicrobial Resistance in the Livestock Sector in the Western Balkans.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Antibiotic Resistance Awareness in Kosovo: Insights from the WHO Antibiotic Resistance: Multi-Country Public Awareness Survey.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Influences on use of antibiotics without prescription by the public in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative evidence.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2024Review
- Excessive Self-Medication with Prescription NSAIDs: A Cross-Sectional Study in Kosovo.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Antimicrobial stewardship: knowledge, perceptions, and factors associated with antibiotics misuse among consumer's visiting the community pharmacies in a Nigeria Southwestern State.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023Article
- Administration of Systemic Antibiotics for Dental Treatment in Kosovo Major Dental Clinics: A National Survey.European journal of dentistry · 2022Article
- Online and Blended Learning Courses for Healthcare Professionals and Policymakers on Patients' Perspectives on Medicine: A Project Report.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A Qualitative Analysis of the Culture of Antibiotic Use for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections Among Patients in Northwest Russia.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Extracorporeal Blood Purification in Moderate and Severe COVID-19 Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study.Blood purification · 2022Observational
- The use of non-prescribed antibiotics; prevalence estimates in low-and-middle-income countries. A systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2021Review
- Identifying the commonly used antibiotics for self-medication in urban Mozambique: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Teacher and Student Views on the Feasibility of Peer to Peer Education as a Model to Educate 16-18 Year Olds on Prudent Antibiotic Use-A Qualitative Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Pharmacy practice architecture challenges in handling COVID-19 pandemic - sharing experience from a Kosovo pharmacy practice.Pharmacy practiceArticle
- Knowledge and behavior of consumers towards the non-prescription purchase of antibiotics: An insight from a qualitative study from New Delhi, India.Pharmacy practiceArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundKosovo is a new state and has a high consumption of antibiotics in relation to other European countries. Existing quantitative studies have shown that practices exist that is not optimal when it comes to antibiotic use in Kosovo, this includes citizens' use of antibiotics, pharmacy practices of selling antibiotics without prescriptions and physicians' prescribing behaviours. To address these problems, there is a need for a deeper understanding of why antibiotics are handled in a suboptimal way.
objectiveThe objective was to explore antibiotic users', community pharmacists' and prescribers' attitudes towards, experiences of, and knowledge about antibiotics in Kosovo.
methodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who recently received an antibiotic prescription for an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), patients who recently received antibiotics for a URTI without a prescription, community pharmacists, and physicians. Interviews were recorded, translated into English, and analysed using deductive content analysis.
resultsIn total, 16 interviews were conducted in the period from 2015-2016. Five themes were identified: Obtaining antibiotics, Choice of antibiotics, Patient information, Patients' knowledge and views on when to use antibiotics, and Professionals' knowledge and attitudes towards antimicrobial resistance. Antibiotics were sometimes obtained without a prescription, also by patients who currently had received one. The specific antibiotic could be chosen by a physician, a pharmacist or the patient him/herself. Former experience was one reason given by patients for their choice. Patients' knowledge on antibiotics was mixed, however health professionals were knowledgeable about e.g. antimicrobial resistance.
conclusionsThere is currently a culture of antibiotic use in Kosovo, including attitudes and behaviours, and hence also experiences, which is possibly underlying the high consumption of antibiotics in the country. The culture is reproduced by patients, pharmacists and physicians. There is, however, an awareness of the current problematic situation among practitioners and policy makers; and as Kosovo is a new country, opportunities to effectively tackle antimicrobial resistance exist.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.