A common complaint of health care personnel is that patients do not always complete the course of treatment that is prescribed for them. This sometimes centers on the taking of antibiotics to control infections. Taking these drugs may seem to be a no-brainer: who wants to be sick? However, there are doubtlessly many medicine cabinets throughout the world that have bottles with some remaining antibiotic pills. The problem is that the desire to take the drug fades once patients begin to feel better. When this happens, they fail to complete the course of treatment, a source of frustration to those who prescribed the drugs.

Aronson conducted a descriptive study to look at the medication-taking experiences of undergraduate college students who were prescribed short-term antibiotic therapies and to describe factors influencing their adherence. Thirty-four undergraduate students who had been prescribed antibiotics for treatment of an acute infection at a large university health center were recruited to participate in this study. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted after students finished their course of treatment. Content analysis was used to analyze the transcripts typed from the audio taped phone interviews. The main theme that emerged from the study was the appropriate antibiotic-taking self-management by the students. Most participants were able to adapt the taking of the antibiotic drugs into their daily routines, and used events in their day and specific reminder strategies to help them to remember to take their medications. This occurred despite an ever-changing class and work schedule, and sometimes being prescribed complex, lengthy antibiotic regimens. Most dosing errors occurred during times when schedules changed or students were off campus during weekends or college breaks. A small number of students discontinued therapy early because of side effects or forgetfulness.

COMMENTS: Aronson concluded that understanding factors that influence antibiotic adherence from a college student perspective suggests strategies to promote adherence tailored to the specific needs of this unique population. This was certainly the case in this study. We have found that college students are greatly interested in self-management. Some, such as those in this study, already use self-management skills to perform well in these schools. There is usually no formal training to acquire these skills; it naturally occurred as the students did well in high school and developed self-efficacy through their successful performance. Other students, however, require more formal training. We taught a college course on self-management for several years and found an enthusiastic audience. Once acquired, students used self-management skills to control other aspects of their lives. Maintenance of the skills was also found to be strong. Our only regret was that the students did not take the course as freshman as it might have helped them achieve greater success in their college work and lives.

B.S. Aronson. Antibiotic-taking experiences of undergraduate college students. Journal of American Academic Nurse Practice, 2006;18:591-598.