P-2086. Knowledge of Antimicrobial Resistance and Acceptability of Anal Swab Screening: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Study in the General Population and Healthcare Personnel in Argentina

TL;DR

This study in Argentina found that while public knowledge of antimicrobial resistance is low, anal swab screening is generally acceptable, especially when performed by healthcare workers.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into AMR awareness and anal swab screening acceptability among the general population and healthcare workers in Argentina.

Findings

Only 46.8% of the general population had heard of antimicrobial resistance, with low conceptual understanding.

Anal swab screening was more acceptable to the general population than to healthcare workers and medical students.

Healthcare workers and medical students had more misconceptions about anal swab screening, viewing it as more embarrassing.

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health priority. In Argentina, limited data are available regarding public awareness of AMR, as well as the acceptability of specific preventive interventions, such as anal swab (AS) screening. We aimed to assess knowledge and perception of AMR in the general population (GP) and to compare the acceptability of AS between the GP and healthcare workers (HCW) and medical students (MS).

We conducted a cross-sectional study in the third trimester of 2023 in Santa Fe, Argentina. In Phase 1, an adaptation of the WHO surveys on AMR was administered to the GP during the national presidential elections. In Phase 2, surveys were distributed to MS and HCW in diverse clinical settings. Chi2 and Mann-Whitney’s U test were used for univariate analysis. Variables with a p< 0.05 were included in logistic regression models to predict both AMR knowledge and AS acceptability.

We collected 588 surveys from the GP (Figure 1) and 544 from HCW (28.3% nurses and 23.9% physicians) and MS. In the GP, the median age was 39 years (IQR 27.0–53.8), and 61.1% were female. Most participants (86.8%) identified as middle or lower-middle socioeconomic class. While 46.8% had heard of AMR, only 77.9% of those individuals understood the concept. Knowledge esa high in 30.6%. Factors associated with knowledge in these patients are shown in Table 1. HCW and MS showed lower acceptability of AS compared to the GP, primarily due to lower scores among MS [8 (IQR 6–9) vs. 10 (IQR 7–10); p=0.001]. Factors associated with AS acceptability are shown in Table 2. Among GP, 39.5% thought that AS would be embarrassing for patients, while this was more frequent among physicians (64.6%), nurses (75.3%) and MS (83.9%) (p< 0.001). Self-swabbing was considered acceptable by 35.9% of the GP, compared to 56.2–57.8% of physicians and nurses, and 75.5% of MS (p< 0.001).

Knowledge about AMR in the GP was low to moderate; however, when provided with basic information, the acceptability of AS as a screening measure was high, with a preference for the procedure to be performed by HCW. Among HCW and MS, misconceptions represented barriers to AS implementation. This study contributes to the limited available evidence on the acceptability of infection control measures in both community and clinical settings.

All Authors: No reported disclosures

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