Abstract: ObjectiveTo investigate the knowledge and behavior of antibiotic usage for upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) among parents of young children in Changsha city,Hunan province.MethodsWe randomly enrolled 310 parents of young children taking vaccinations at vaccination clinics of community health service centres in five districts of Changsha municipality for a survey with a self-developed questionnaire from January to July 2015.ResultsAmong the parents,the average score for knowledge about antibiotic usage for URTI was 18.81±4.83 and 69.67% had correct cognition on the issue but less than 50% gave correct answers to the 7 out of 27 questions on antibiotic usage for URTI.Moreover,84.84% of the parents expressed their desire for acquiring knowledge about the use of antibiotics.Furthermore,37.42% of parents reported the experience of buying antibiotics for their babies from drug stores.Linear regression analysis revealed that the age of their children,education level of the parents,and whether their children having been prescribed with antibiotics by doctors were significant influencing factors to self-medication of URTI with antibiotics in the parents.ConclusionThe knowledge about rational use of antibiotics needs to be promoted among the parents of young children in Changsha city and the majority of the parents are eager to acquire the knowledge;the parents' behavior of buying antibiotics from drug stores for the medication of their children are influenced by the age of their children,education level of themselves,and whether their children having been prescribed with antibiotics by doctors.