Patterns of antibiotic use among adults and parents in the community: A questionnaire-based survey in a Greek urban population

The purpose of this study was to look for factors that affect attitudes to antibiotic use in Greek urban settings. By using a questionnaire-based survey, we conducted 323 face-to-face interviews (173 adults, 150 carers of children). In the adult group, 74.6% admitted using non-prescribed antibiotics, while only 22.7% of parents had administered non-prescribed antibiotics to their children. Around 50% of adults discontinued therapy earlier, more than 10% did not follow the correct dosage instructions and about 55% admitted using leftover antibiotics. Of the parents, 18.7% discontinued therapy earlier and 7.3% admitted keeping leftover antibiotics. Our results showed that adults were likely to show unsatisfactory compliance and to use non-prescribed antibiotics, while parents were less likely to use non-prescribed antibiotics for their children and were more compliant.