OBJECTIVES: The outbreak of antibiotic resistance is a serious global threat to public health that presents a considerable economic burden and increases mortality and morbidity. There are several factors that lead to antibiotics resistance among which improper use of antibiotics plays a substantial role. This study was designed to assess the practice of antibiotic preparation skills among parents who are living in Tehran.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, during 2016-2017. Participants were selected from parents of ill children whom physicians had prescribed antibiotics for. Antibiotics preparation practice of parents was assessed by two methods: a) self-stated method through a questionnaire by which the practice of parents about prescriptions and drug orders was evaluated b) observational method by which the researcher assessed to what extend parents use antibiotics properly for their children. Data analyses was performed using SPSS 22 software.

RESULTS: The survey was performed on about 400 randomly selected parents who had taken their children to medical centers in Tehran. Results of self-stated method showed that only 49.4 % of participants had appropriate practice of antibiotics preparation and they got the average score of 3.95 points out of 8. Furthermore, in observational method most of parents had acceptable practice towards antibiotics (68.4%) and they could gain the average score of 5.93 points out of 10 which can be considered moderately appropriate according to experts’ opinion. Additionally, the average scores of parents’ practice of antibiotics preparation were significantly correlated to insurance and economic statues of the households.

CONCLUSIONS: Nearly half of the parents who attended this survey had approximately inappropriate practice of antibiotics preparation. Participants could get moderate scores which in turn suggests that many measures still should be taken to improve the practice towards antibiotics.