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Can a smartphone app improve medical trainees’ knowledge of antibiotics?

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a smartphone app, containing local bacterial resistance patterns (antibiogram) and treatment guidelines, improved knowledge of prescribing antimicrobials among medical trainees. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, controlled, pre-post study of medical trainees with...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Fralick, Michael, Haj, Reem, Hirpara, Dhruvin, Wong, Karen, Muller, Matthew, Matukas, Larissa, Bartlett, John, Leung, Elizabeth, Taggart, Linda
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: IJME 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5768437/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29200402
http://dx.doi.org/10.5116/ijme.5a11.8422
Descripción
Sumario:OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a smartphone app, containing local bacterial resistance patterns (antibiogram) and treatment guidelines, improved knowledge of prescribing antimicrobials among medical trainees. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, controlled, pre-post study of medical trainees with access to a smartphone app (app group) containing our hospital’s antibiogram and treatment guidelines compared to those without access (control group). Participants completed a survey which included a knowledge assessment test (score range, 0 [lowest possible score] to 12 [highest possible score]) at the start of the study and four weeks later. The primary outcome was change in mean knowledge assessment test scores between week 0 and week 4. Change in knowledge assessment test scores in the app group were compared to the difference in scores in the control group using multivariable linear regression. RESULTS: Sixty-two residents and senior medical students participated in the study. In a multivariable analysis controlling for sex and prior knowledge, app use was associated with a 1.1 point (95% CI: 0.10, 2.1) [β = 1.08, t(1) = 2.08, p = 0.04]  higher change in knowledge score compared to the change in knowledge scores in the control group. Among those in the app group, 88% found it easy to navigate, 85% found it useful, and about one- quarter used it daily. CONCLUSIONS: An antibiogram and treatment algorithm app increased knowledge of prescribing antimicrobials in the context of local antibiotic resistance patterns. These findings reinforce the notion that smartphone apps can be a useful and innovative means of delivering medical education.