Search

Nikita Goswami,1,* Prasanna Dahal,1,* Shakti Shrestha,2 Bhuvan KC,3 Shyam Kumar Mallik1 1Purbanchal University College of Medical and Allied Sciences, Purbanchal University, Sundar Haraicha, Gothgaun, Morang, Nepal; 2School of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Australia Center of Excellence, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia; 3School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan 47500, Bandar Sunway Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia*These authors contributed equally to this work.Correspondence: Prasanna DahalPurbanchal University College of Medical and Allied Sciences, Purbanchal University, Sundar Haraicha, Gothgaun, Morang 56611, NepalTel +9779852049828Email drprasannadahal@gmail.comBackground: Community pharmacies are easily accessible outlets providing medicines to the general public in Nepal, but it is known that irrational dispensing of antibiotics from such outlets contributes to antimicrobial resistance.Objective: To assess the understanding of community pharmacy personnel around antibiotic-dispensing in Eastern Nepal and the relationship between this understanding and their personal characteristics.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 312 pharmacy personnel working in community pharmacies of three districts within Eastern Nepal using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze participants’ characteristics and their understanding of antibiotic dispensing. The relationships between their understanding of antibiotic dispensing and their characteristics were determined using Chi-square tests.Results: Most of the pharmacy personnel considered that dispensing antibiotics without a valid prescription is a problem (76.9%), and that it would not be legal to do so (86.9%). In the survey, 34.9% of participants agreed that they had dispensed antibiotics without prescription, and 26.9% disagreed with the assertion that inappropriate dispensing of antibiotics could promote antimicrobial r