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Medicaid-insured parents more likely to have misconceptions about antibiotics
Parents insured by Medicaid are more likely to misunderstand the mechanics of antibiotic use than parents with private insurance, according to a recent study in Pediatrics.
“Despite large-scale educational campaigns to decrease antibiotic misuse, deficits in parental knowledge persist,” Louise E.Vaz, MD, MPH, of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University, and colleagues wrote. “The majority of commercially insured parents were better informed about appropriate use of antibiotics, and misconceptions (and misguided expectations) for antibiotics may even be growing among those publicly insured.”
Researchers mailed surveys containing questions about antibiotic use, function and resistance, to 700 privately insured families and 900 Medicaid-insured families with at least one child aged younger than 6 years. Of the 1500 families surveyed, 354 privately insured families responded, while 353 Medicaid-insured families responded. The surveys contained a mixture of opinion and knowledge based questions. A similar survey sent to similar families in 2000 was used to determine changes in comparative data.
Demographic results showed that Medicaid-insured parents were aged younger, were less likely to be white, and had less education than privately insured respondents.
Study results showed that antibiotic misinformation and misunderstanding were more prevalent with Medicaid-insured parents. The researchers found that Medicaid-insured parents answered more questions incorrectly, aside from a question regarding bronchitis, in which the difference was statistically insignificant (P < .66).
Medicaid-insured parents were also more likely to misunderstand the function of antibiotics, issuing more requests for unnecessary antibiotics treatments in 2013 than in 2000 (P < .01).
The researchers recommend development of interventions that target specific populations which take into account the disparities in access to medical information and appeal to families of varying literacy levels.
“New strategies to change expectations about antibiotic use must be a continued focus of public health initiatives. These initiatives will be more effective if they address local knowledge and attitudes and tailor interventions to combat specific misconceptions,” Vaz and colleagues wrote. – by David Costill
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
