title: Comparison of the knowledge, attitudes and practice with antibiotic use between traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine usual attenders in Hong Kong.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients who usually attend Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) need to go to western medicine (WM) doctors for antibiotics in Hong Kong. They might have different knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) with antibiotics from the WM-attenders.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study compares TCM attenders with the WM-attenders in Hong Kong about their KAP with antibiotics. The comparison could help future campaigns/education on appropriate antibiotic use.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire on KAP with antibiotics was designed after eight focus groups of purposively selected participants. A territory-wide telephone survey then interviewed randomly selected residents who were aged 18 years or above and spoke the local dialect.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 2471 respondents, 270 and 2092 usually attended TCM and WM, respectively. Majority of both the TCM- and WM-attenders preferred doctors who were judicious in prescribing antibiotics and seldom asked for them. The TCM-attenders were significantly more likely to be female and with lower household income. They were also more likely to agree that antibiotics were not useful for upper respiratory tract infections and that antibiotic resistance was a serious local problem. They were less likely to accept or be treated with antibiotics. The TCM-attenders were also more concerned about the side-effects of antibiotics. However, they were also less likely than the WM-attenders to always finish a full course of antibiotic.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Apart from non-compliance, the TCM-attenders' KAP with antibiotics favour the appropriate use of antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Yuk Tsan
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Wun
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: tplam@hku.hk.
authors.forename: Tai Pong
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Kwok Fai
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Kai Sing
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Alternative medicine; Antibiotics; KAP; Traditional Chinese medicine