OBJECTIVES: To identify preferences of the Swedish public regarding antibiotic treatment characteristics and the relative weight of antibiotic resistance in their treatment choices.

METHODS: A questionnaire including a discrete choice experiment questionnaire was answered by 378 Swedish participants. Preferences of the general public regarding five treatment characteristics (i.e., attributes) were measured: Contribution to antibiotic resistance, Cost, Side effects, Failure rate, and Treatment duration. Latent class analysis models were used to determine attribute-level estimates and the heterogeneity in preferences. Relative importance of the attributes and willingness to pay for antibiotics with a lower contribution to antibiotic resistance were calculated from the estimates.

RESULTS: All attributes influenced participants' preferences for antibiotic treatment. For the majority of participants 'Contribution to antibiotic resistance' was the most important attribute. Younger respondents found contributing to antibiotic resistance relatively more important in their choice of antibiotic treatments. Choices of respondents with lower numeracy, higher health literacy and financial vulnerability were influenced more by the cost of the antibiotic treatment. Older respondents with lower financial vulnerability and health literacy, and higher numeracy found side effects to be most important.

CONCLUSIONS: All attributes can be considered as potential drivers of lay people's use of antibiotics. Findings also suggest that the behaviour of lay people may be influenced by concerns over the rise of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, stressing individual responsibility for AR in clinical and societal communication has a potential to have an impact on personal decision making.