Master of Public Health Survey

I would like to invite you to participate in a research study. Before you start you need to understand why this research is done and your involvement in it. This form details the purpose of the study, a description of the involvement required and the your rights as a participant. Please take time to read the following information carefully. You are welcome to ask questions or ask for clarity if anything you read is not clear and you are welcomed to contact me if you would like more information (contact details provided at the end of this leaflet).

My name is Sinenhlanhla Guma. I am doing this research study for the purpose of fulfilling requirements for a Master’s degree in Public Health at University of Kwa-Zulu Natal.

To determine factors associated with antibiotics prescribing choices of general practitioners (GPs) in Ethekwini district.

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) is a collective group of LMICs considered to have a very high consumption of antimicrobial agents (Chetty et al., 2019). In SA, there is limited research focusing on antibiotics prescribing in primary care. Inappropriate use of antibiotics in KZN has been reported in a pilot study done between 2003 and 2005, however the factors associated with prescribing of antibiotics in primary care has not been investigated (Gasson et al., 2018). Being able to identify factors associated with antibiotics prescribing patterns of GPs in Ethekwini district will be useful to develop interventions that will effectively improve the use of antibiotics.

You were selected because you are a GP in private practice belonging to one of the following medical associations/medical group: Medicross, Intercare, Medical Centre (Group practice), Durban IPA, Isiphingo IPA, Pinetown IPA and Durban South Doctors Guild (inclusion criteria for this study) and you may be interested in participating.

Your participation is voluntary. Any choice regarding participation is confidential between you and the research team. You can withdraw from the study at any stage should they wish to do so.

Your involvement would be to participate in a web-based survey questionnaire which will take approximately 20 minutes (once off participation). Data collected will be limited to this use or other research-related usage authorised by University of Kwa-Zulu Natal.

All information given will be strictly confidential. You will not be identified by name in any of the reports. In the questionnaire there will be no personal information recorded excluding demographic data. Data collected will be stored securely in a manner consistent with the data protection act.

We believe there is minimal risk. We understand that it’s a web-based survey that demands some of your time and there may be some inconveniences. You can withdraw from the study at any stage should they wish to do so.

You will not directly benefit from this study. Should you wish so, you will be given an opportunity to receive feedback from the research team in a short report of the overall findings. You will not be paid for participating in this study.

Research protocol have be submitted to the institutional review board for evaluation of compliance with ethical rules and compliance with BREC requirements. Approval letter for this research is attached.

You can take your time to consider whether to participate in the survey. If you would like to take part, the link is provided below. Before starting, please ensure that the consent form attached to this information sheet is signed. If you do not wish to participate, no action is required from you.

For further information, please feel free to contact Sinenhlanhla Guma (student) on 207500759@stu.ukzn.ac.za or s.gumah@gmail.com contact details: 076 768 7284

Thank you for your time