Highlights
- •Medical trainees can be engaged through the use of social media.
- •Social media can be used to increase awareness and use of educational tools.
- •Clinical pathway use increased through increased awareness and periodic reminders.
- •Antibiotic knowledge increased as a result of following our program on social media.
Background
To increase the reach of our antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP), social media
platforms, Facebook and Twitter, were used to increase internal medicine residents'
(IMRs') antibiotic (Abx) knowledge and awareness of ASP resources.
Methods
Fifty-five of 110 (50%) IMRs consented to participate; 39 (71%) completed both pre-
and postintervention surveys and followed our ASP on social media. Along with 20 basic
Abx and infectious diseases (IDs) questions, this survey assessed IMR awareness of
ASP initiatives, social media usage, and attitudes and beliefs surrounding Abx resistance.
Over 6 months, IMRs received posts and Tweets of basic Abx/IDs trivia while promoting
use of educational tools and clinical pathways on our ASP Web site. To compare pre-
and postsurvey responses, McNemar test or Stuart-Maxwell test was used for categorical
variables, and paired t test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for continuous variables, as appropriate.
Results
Of the IMRs, 98% and 58% use Facebook and Twitter, respectively. To compare pre- and
postintervention, median scores for Abx knowledge increased from 12 (interquartile
range, 8-13) to 13 (interquartile range, 11-15; P = .048); IMRs knowing how to access the ASP Web site increased from 70% to 94%. More
IMRs indicated that they used the clinical pathways “sometimes, frequently, or always”
after the intervention (33% vs 61%, P = .004).
Conclusions
Social media is a valuable tool to reinforce ASP initiatives while encouraging the
use of ASP resources to promote antimicrobial mindfulness.
Key Words
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Article info
Footnotes
Funding/Support: Supported by a Pfizer Medical Education Grant. The REDCap project is hosted and managed by the Center for Research Informatics and funded by the Biological Sciences Division and by the Institute for Translational Medicine, Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) grant number UL1 TR000430, from the National Institutes of Health.
Conflicts of Interest: J.P. received research funding from Pfizer; the other authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.
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© 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
