Antibiotic knowledge, attitudes and practices: new insights from cross-sectional rural health behaviour surveys in low-income and middle-income South-East Asia

INTRODUCTION: Low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are crucial in the global response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), but diverse health systems, healthcare practices and cultural conceptions of medicine can complicate global education and awareness-raising campaigns. Social research can help understand LMIC contexts but remains under-represented in AMR research. OBJECTIVE: To (1) Describe antibiotic-related knowledge, attitudes and practices of the general population in two LMICs. (2) Assess the role of antibiotic-related knowledge and attitudes on antibiotic access from different types of healthcare providers. DESIGN: Observational study: cross-sectional rural health behaviour survey, representative of the population level. SETTING: General rural population in Chiang Rai (Thailand) and Salavan (Lao PDR), surveyed between November 2017 and May 2018. PARTICIPANTS: 2141 adult members (≥18 years) of the general rural population, representing 712 000 villagers. OUTCOME MEASURES: Antibiotic-related knowledge, attitudes and practices across sites and healthcare access channels. FINDINGS: Villagers were aware of antibiotics (Chiang Rai: 95.7%; Salavan: 86.4%; p