title: A literacy-sensitive approach to improving antibiotic understanding in a community-based setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Antibiotic misuse contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Patient and prescriber knowledge and behaviors influence antibiotic use. Past research has focused on describing and influencing prescriber behavior with less attention to the patient role in antibiotic use. This study seeks to: (1) develop and deploy a program to enhance patient knowledge about antibiotic use; (2) evaluate whether providing patient education is associated with improvements in antibiotic knowledge in a community-based sample; and (3) explore whether health literacy may be associated with knowledge of appropriate antibiotic use.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study developed, deployed, and evaluated whether community-based educational seminars enhance patient knowledge about antibiotic use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-eight participants from five locations completed the seminar. The antibiotic knowledge index score significantly increased by 2.0 points on the 14 point knowledge index from 10.95 (±2.88) to 12.95 (±1.72) (P = 0.0011) for the 19 participants completing both the pre and post-test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A community-based educational seminar on appropriate antibiotic use can effectively increase patient understanding of their role in antibiotic stewardship and combat the inappropriate use of antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Medicine Infectious Diseases, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Tulsa, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Crystal M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: David
authors.affiliation: School of Community Medicine, College of Pharmacy, Clinical and Administrative Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: O'Neal
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, School of Community Medicine, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Saint Francis Health System, College of Pharmacy, Clinical and Administrative Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Ann E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Lloyd
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063046:Patient Medication Knowledge; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: antibiotic knowledge; antibiotic stewardship; community awareness; educational seminar; health literacy