Evaluation of knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical university students concerning the problem of sepsis and antibiotic resistance: results of a cross-sectional survey

The objective was to assess the level of knowledge about the problem of sepsis, as well as attitude and practice regarding antibiotic use among medical university students.

Materials and methods. A questionnaire based on the “Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices” (KAP) model was developed, with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.741 (indicating acceptable internal consistency). A cross-sectional anonymous survey was conducted among medical university students across different academic years. The data was collected using an online form.

Results. The study included 170 respondents, of whom 52 (69.4%) were males and 118 (30.6%) – females, with a median age of 20 [19; 22] years. Among the participants, 22 (13.0%) had secondary medical education. The most common sources of information on sepsis and antibiotic resistance among the respondents were university academic courses and online resources. The mean scores on the scale of assessment of respondents’ knowledge about sepsis and antibiotic resistance was 0.71 ± 0.46, on the scale of assessment of the level of attitude to the problem – 0.73 ± 0.45, on the scale of assessment of the level of practice – 0.70 ± 0.46. Correlation analysis revealed a weak positive association between knowledge and practice (r = 0.21). When comparing senior and junior students, significantly higher scores were observed only in the “Knowledge” domain.

Conclusion. Despite self-reported adherence to rational antibiotic use, the study identified systemic gaps in students’ knowledge about sepsis and antimicrobial therapy. A discrepancy was observed between high self-assessed competence and objectively low knowledge levels. Contradictions in the assessment of antibiotic prescribing practices and the level of knowledge on the problem underscore the need to plan educational events aligned with current clinical guidelines.

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