ArticleBMJ open2024
"Just as curry is needed to eat rice, antibiotics are needed to cure fever"-a qualitative study of individual, community and health system-level influences on community antibiotic practices in rural West Bengal, India.
Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 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
- Impact of WHO AWaRe Antibiotic Handbook training on antibiotics prescribing knowledge among private primary care providers: a vignette-based, prep-post pilot study in Patna, India.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2026Article
- Exploring factors contributing to antibiotic resistance: A cross-sectional empirical study in Bangladesh.PloS one · 2026Article
- Status and implications of the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards AWaRe antibiotic use, resistance and stewardship among low- and middle-income countries.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Review
- Dilemmas of care: Healthcare seeking behaviours and antibiotic use among women in rural communities in Nam Dinh Province, Vietnam.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo understand community antibiotic practices and their drivers, comprehensively and in contextually sensitive ways, we explored the individual, community and health system-level factors influencing community antibiotic practices in rural West Bengal in India.
designQualitative study using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews.
settingTwo contrasting village clusters in South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, India. Fieldwork was conducted between November 2019 and January 2020.
participants98 adult community members (42 men and 56 women) were selected purposively for 8 focus group discussions. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 community key informants (7 teachers, 4 elected village representatives, 2 doctors and 3 social workers) and 14 community health workers.
resultsSignificant themes at the individual level included sociodemographics (age, gender, education), cognitive factors (knowledge and perceptions of modern antibiotics within non-biomedical belief systems), affective influences (emotive interpretations of appropriate medicine consumption) and economic constraints (affordability of antibiotic courses and overall costs of care). Antibiotics were viewed as essential fever remedies, akin to antipyretics, with decisions to halt mid-course influenced by non-biomedical beliefs associating prolonged use with toxicity. Themes at the community and health system levels included the health stewardship roles of village leaders and knowledge brokering by informal providers, pharmacists and public sector accredited social health activists. However, these community resources lacked sufficient knowledge to address people's doubts and concerns. Qualified doctors were physically and socially inaccessible, creating a barrier to seeking their expertise.
conclusionsThe interplay of sociodemographic, cognitive and affective factors, and economic constraints at the individual level, underscores the complexity of antibiotic usage. Additionally, community leaders and health workers emerge as crucial players, yet their knowledge gaps and lack of empowerment pose challenges in addressing public concerns. This comprehensive analysis highlights the need for targeted interventions that address both individual beliefs and community health dynamics to promote judicious antibiotic use.
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