Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42026892›Full record

SynthesisBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2026

Global and regional knowledge of antibiotic use and resistance among healthcare students: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Asa Auta, Erick Wesley Hedima, Emmanuel O Adewuyi, Shalkur David, Emmanuel Agada David, Lomikga Balachandran, Enoche Florence Oga, Davies Adeloye, Barry Strickland-Hodge

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Asa AutaFaculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6515-5802
Erick Wesley HedimaDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gombe State University, Gombe, Nigeria.
Emmanuel O AdewuyiCurtin School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Shalkur DavidDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria.
Emmanuel Agada DavidDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gombe State University, Gombe, Nigeria.
Lomikga BalachandranFaculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK.
Enoche Florence OgaSchool of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Lancashire, Preston, UK.
Davies AdeloyeSchool of Health & Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK.
Barry Strickland-HodgeSchool of Healthcare, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsWe synthesized and analysed existing evidence on healthcare students' knowledge of antibiotic use and resistance to provide pooled global and regional estimates.

methodsThe PubMed®, Embase® and CINAHL databases were searched for studies published between January 2015 and October 2025 that reported the knowledge of antibiotic use and resistance among healthcare students. Pooled estimates and 95% confidence interval (CI) of correct knowledge were determined using random-effects meta-analysis.

resultsOf the 8623 articles identified, 131 studies with data from 43 countries met the inclusion criteria. Most healthcare students correctly understood that antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections (88.7%, 95% CI: 87.0-90.5) but ineffective against viruses (70.0%, 95% CI: 65.6-74.4). However, only 57.9% (95% CI: 51.5-64.3) knew that antibiotics are ineffective against colds and flu, while just over half (51.5%, 95% CI: 41.6-61.4) of the students correctly knew that antibiotics do not speed up recovery from common colds and flu. Significant regional differences were observed in the understanding that antibiotics do not speed up recovery from common colds and flu, ranging from 41.3% (95% CI: 33.5-49.1) in South Asia to 98.0% (85% CI: 94.5-99.3) in North America.

conclusionsAlthough our findings indicate a substantial level of antibiotic knowledge across many of the evaluated outcomes, there are significant knowledge gaps in understanding of the ineffectiveness of antibiotics against the common cold and flu. These knowledge gaps have important implications for the rational use of antibiotics and the prevention of resistance.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeStudents, Health OccupationsBacterial InfectionsDrug Resistance, BacterialDrug Resistance, MicrobialHumansAnti-Bacterial Agentsantibiotic resistanceantibioticsbacterial infectionhealthcare students

Identifiers

PMID42026892
PMCPMC13304241

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.