Research

Bugs & Drugs on the web

Bugs & Drugs

Starting in 2002, the Bugs & Drugs website was developed, with funding from the Department of Health, in response to concern about antimicrobial resistance, and to address education of healthcare professionals and the public, as well as promotion of prudent prescribing. The site aimed to answer frequently asked questions about antimicrobial resistance, point to relevant resources and highlight news topics.

Aims & Objectives

The main aim of the project was to inform the public about the current concern in regards to antimicrobial resistance and prudent prescribing and to evaluate the impact of the website on public knowledge and attitude. Evaluation was an intrinsic part of the project development.

Impact

The website was tested in the Science Museum, London as part of their 'live science' program. Over a period of seven days during the two 2003 February half-term weeks, 227 people took part in the study. Each participant was asked to complete a questionnaire about antibiotic resistance, then freely browse this website and complete the questionnaire again. Of these 177 completed both questionnaires. The data were evaluated to understand Knowledge changes, Attitude changes and their correlation. The study was repeated in Nottingham City Hospital Open Day in July , at the Royal College of Physicians Open Day in July 2006 and with two cohorts of 4th year medical students from Oxford in 2004 and 2006. All studies demonstrated a significant improvement in knowledge and a decrease in expectation to be prescribed antibiotics. The results from these studies are available here.

Staff


Visit the Bugs & Drugs site for more information.