BACKGROUND One of the objectives of the Global Action Plan by the World Health Organization (WHO) to contain antimicrobial resistance (AMR), is to improve global awareness through effective communication and education. Comprehensive information on the level of awareness of AMR among Nigerian public is deficient. This study was therefore designed to assess the current level of awareness and knowledge of the Nigerian public of AMR. METHODS Pre-tested and validated questionnaire was used to obtain information from the general public across the six geopolitical zones (North Central, North East, North West, South East, South South and South West) in Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling was used to select one state from each zone and respondents were selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. Responses to eight questions were used to grade the level of knowledge categorized as poor, fair and good. Collation and analysis of data were performed at the Microbiology Department of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos, Nigeria, using SPSS version 24.0. RESULTS Questionnaires from 482 respondents comprising 242 (50.2%) females and 240 (49.8%) males from six states (Lagos, Ebonyi, Delta, Plateau, Borno and Jigawa) were analyzed. Of the 482 respondents, 322 (66.8%) had taken antibiotics in the last six months out of which 31.3% were without prescription. 26.1% of respondents believe they don't need to complete the dosage as long as they feel better. Although 272(56.5%) of the respondents were familiar with the term "antibiotic resistance", only 40(8.3%) had good knowledge of AMR. A majority (76.6%) believed that they were powerless to stop the spread of AMR. There was no association between the gender of respondents and knowledge of AMR (p = 0.13). However, respondents from Ebonyi and Delta states in southern Nigeria were more likely to have good knowledge of AMR (X2 = 53.22, P < 0.0001). The respondents in the urban area had a higher score for knowledge level compared to the rural dwellers, though this was not statistically significant within and across states. CONCLUSION This survey provides an insight into the level of AMR awareness and antibiotic use in the wider Nigeria public. Our findings show that about a third of the general public consume antibiotics obtained without prescription. There is an overall poor understanding of antimicrobial resistance and/or proper use of antibiotics among respondents. It is critical that more holistic public enlightenment programs are carried out to increase awareness of AMR and promote responsible use of antibiotics.

中文翻译：

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尼日利亚公众对抗菌素耐药性认识的全国调查。

背景技术世界卫生组织（WHO）遏制抗微生物药物耐药性（AMR）的全球行动计划的目标之一是通过有效的沟通和教育来提高全球意识。尼日利亚公众对抗菌素耐药性认识水平的综合信息不足。因此，本研究旨在评估尼日利亚公众对AMR的认识和知识水平。方法使用经过预先测试和验证的问卷，从尼日利亚的六个地缘政治区（北中部，东北，西北，东南，南南和西南）获得来自公众的信息。使用多阶段采样从每个区域中选择一种状态，并通过多阶段采样技术选择受访者。对八个问题的回答用于对知识水平进行分类，这些知识分为不良，公平和良好。数据的整理和分析是在尼日利亚拉各斯的尼日利亚医学研究所（NIMR）的微生物学系中使用SPSS 24.0版进行的。结果分析了来自六个州（拉各斯，埃博尼，三角洲，高原，博尔诺和吉加瓦州）的482名受访者的问卷，包括242名（50.2％）女性和240名（49.8％）男性。在482名受访者中，最近六个月中有322名（66.8％）服用了抗生素，其中31.3％没有处方。26.1％的受访者认为，只要感觉良好，就无需完成剂量。尽管272（56.5％）位受访者熟悉“抗生素耐药性”一词，但只有40位（8.3％）的人对AMR有很好的了解。多数（76。6％）认为他们无力阻止AMR的传播。受访者的性别与AMR的知识之间没有关联（p = 0.13）。但是，来自尼日利亚南部埃邦伊州和三角洲州的受访者更可能具有AMR知识（X2 = 53.22，P <0.0001）。与农村居民相比，城市地区的受访者的知识水平得分更高，尽管在州内和州际之间这在统计学上并不显着。结论本调查提供了更广泛的尼日利亚公众对AMR意识和抗生素使用水平的见解。我们的研究结果表明，约有三分之一的普通民众食用未经处方而获得的抗生素。受访者对抗菌素耐药性和/或正确使用抗生素的认识总体较差。