Social and psychological determinants of the misuse of antibiotics and tranquilizers in the Galician and Lebanese populations

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance, and dependence and addiction to tranquilizers are two international public health problems that are derived from antibiotic and tranquilizer misuse. This thesis encompassed: 1) Development and validation of the first questionnaires on Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) of antibiotic and tranquilizer misuse in Galician, Arabic and French; 2) Application of the validated questionnaires in Galicia and Lebanon in various epidemiological studies to determine the association of Knowledge and Attitudes with Practices of antibiotic and tranquilizer misuse; 3) Comparison of findings from crosssectional and longitudinal approaches related to KAP studies; and 4) Dose-response meta-analyses about the association of the socioeconomic variables, income and education, with antibiotic misuse.