Rational application of antibiotics-The influence of anaesthetists' gender on self-confidence and knowledge

Background: High rates of multiresistant pathogens require detailed knowledge about rational utilization of antibiotics. Many physicians consider themselves uncertain about the interpretation of microbiological diagnostics. We examined whether self-confidence, self-rated knowledge, and objective knowledge regarding the use of antibiotics are associated with gender.

Methods: For this survey study, in 2017, anaesthesiologists and residents of 16 anaesthetic departments in Germany were asked to complete the Multiinstitutional Reconnaissance of practice with Multiresistant bacteria (MR2) survey. It consists of 55 items evaluating self-confidence regarding the practical use of antibiotics (n = 6), self-rated theoretical knowledge (n = 16), and objective knowledge (n = 5). Their answers to these items in relation to their gender were analysed using Chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis-H-Tests, and unadjusted as well as adjusted logistic regression models.

Results: Six hundred eighty-four (response rate: 53.9 %) questionnaires were returned and were available for analysis. Female doctors (35.5 %) felt less self-confident (P < 0.001). Self-rated knowledge differed in overall mean (P = 0.014) and the unadjusted (odds ratio [OR]: 0.55; P = 0.013) but not in the adjusted logistic regression (OR: 0.84; P = 0.525). Objective knowledge differed after pooling questions (61.2% correct answers vs 65.4%, P = 0.01) but not with respect to single items and the adjusted logistic regression (OR: 0.83, P = 0.356).

Conclusion: Less self-confidence and a lower self-rated knowledge were found in female anaesthetists; this is consistent to the gender phenomena observed by other researchers. Nevertheless, between the 2 groups objective knowledge did not differ significantly in any item.