| dc.description.abstract | Antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial residues and contamination of the environment by antimicrobial agents have become a growing public health problem, especially in developing countries such as Uganda. This has been partly due to widespread and indiscriminate use of antimicrobial agents among livestock by both farmers and veterinary personnel. This study was aimed to document the knowledge, perceptions and practices of livestock farmers towards the use of antibacterial drugs in Kabale district, determine the most used antibacterial drugs in livestock and evaluate the association between socio-demographic and farming characteristics of the livestock farmers with their knowledge, perceptions and drug use practices. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the study area. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires either in preprinted form, or using android app “KoboCollect”. A sample of 103 livestock farmers were surveyed from Kabale municipality, Buhara and Kyanamira sub-counties. The filled questionnaires were uploaded to “Kobo Toolbox” online data base, cleaned and analyzed using Microsoft Excel® and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27 for chi-square tests, with level of significance at 0.05. Oxytetracycline was the most commonly used antibacterial drug (50.5%, n=52) in the study area. Generally, 50.5% (n=52) of the livestock farmers had adequate knowledge, 29.1% (n=30) had desirable perceptions, while 66% (n=68) carried out appropriate practices regarding antibacterial drug use. The results showed that the position of the respondents on farm or livestock keeping household (p=0.023), occupation of the farmers (p=0.007), level of education of the farm owner (p<0.001) and whether or not the respondent had received training regarding antibacterial drug use and resistance (p=0.004) significantly affected the knowledge of the farmers regarding antibacterial drug use. The study also found out that occupation of the farmers (p=0.047), time spent in livestock farming (p=0.049), level of education of farm owner (p=0.003) and whether or not they had received training regarding antibacterial drug use and resistance (p=0.017) significantly affected the perceptions of the farmers. Analysis further revealed that farmers who had received training regarding antibacterial drug use were 2.611 times more likely to have adequate knowledge (OR=2.611, 95% CIs: 1.008, 6.760) and 3.077 times more likely to have desirable perceptions regarding antibacterial drug use (OR=3.077, 95% CIs: 1.196, 7.916) compared to those that did not. 96.12% of the farmers did not know how to dispose of unused or expired medicine and the containers of the drugs used. The results of this study will be used to craft useful extension messages to rapidly ensure proper/rational use of drugs by livestock farmers within the district. | en_US |
