KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES REGARDING ANTIBIOTIC USE AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is among the gravest threats to global health, and the inappropriate use of antibiotics is its principal driver. Medical students occupy a formative position in this story: as future prescribers, and as trusted sources of health advice within their families and communities, the knowledge and habits they form in training will shape both their own prescribing and the wider use of antibiotics. Objective: This narrative review draws together the published evidence on medical students’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) concerning antibiotic use and AMR. It gives particular weight to self-medication and reflects on the situation in Uzbekistan and the wider Central Asian region, where local data are conspicuously scarce. Methods: The peer-reviewed literature indexed in PubMed and Google Scholar was reviewed, with emphasis on cross-sectional KAP surveys among medical students, on systematic reviews that synthesise them, and on regional reports. Findings are organised thematically, and every quantitative figure is traced to its original source. Findings: A consistent picture emerges. Medical students readily acknowledge AMR as a serious public-health problem, yet a stubborn gap separates what they know from how they behave. One systematic review found that between 41% and 69% of students believed antibiotics to be useful against upper respiratory tract infections, a misconception that scarcely diminished as students advanced through their studies. Self-medication is widespread — reported in roughly 28% to more than 60% of students across settings — and community pharmacies frequently supply the antibiotics involved. In Central Asia, lax regulation of over-the-counter sales and a pandemic-driven surge in consumption have compounded the problem. Conclusion: That knowledge so often fails to translate into prudent behaviour suggests that teaching facts alone is not enough. Embedding antimicrobial stewardship as an explicit thread woven through the whole of medical training, and tightening the regulation of antibiotic sales, are both warranted. The near-absence of KAP data from Uzbekistan is an important gap that future local research should address.