Do citizens have minimum medical knowledge? - A survey

[sharon sanders]

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left">Research article
</td><td align="right"><!-- <rdf:RDF xmlns:cc="http://web.resource.org/cc/" xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlnsrism="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/1.2/basic/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/"> <cc:Work rdf:about="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/5/14"> <cc:license rdf:resource="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/"/> </cc:Work> <cc:License rdf:about="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/"> <ccermits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Reproduction"/> <ccermits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Distribution"/> <cc:requires rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Notice"/> <cc:requires rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Attribution"/> <ccermits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/DerivativeWorks"/> </cc:License> <item rdf:about="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/5/14"> <title>Do citizens have minimum medical knowledge? - A survey</title> <dc:title>Do citizens have minimum medical knowledge? - A survey</dc:title> <dc:creator>Bachmann, Lucas M.</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Gutzwiller, Florian S.</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Puhan, Milo A.</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Steurer, Johann</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Steurer-Stey, Claudia</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Gigerenzer, Gerd</dc:creator> <dc:identifier>info:doi/10.1186/1741-7015-5-14</dc:identifier> <dc:identifier>infomid/17540024</dc:identifier> <dc:source>BMC Medicine 2007, 5:14</dc:source> <dc:date>2007-05-31</dc:date>
BMC Medicine</prismublicationName>
2007-05-31</prismublicationDate>
5</prism:volume>
1</prism:number>
Research article</prism:section>
14</prism:startingPage> </item> </rdf:RDF> -->.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>Do citizens have minimum medical knowledge? - A survey
Lucas M. Bachmann , Florian S. Gutzwiller , Milo A. Puhan , Johann Steurer , Claudia Steurer-Stey and Gerd Gigerenzer

BMC Medicine 2007, 5:14 doi:10.1186/1741-7015-5-14

<table class="smalltext" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr> <td>Published</td> <td width="25"> </td> <td>31 May 2007</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Abstract (provisional)

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.

Background
Experts defined a "minimum medical knowledge" (MMK) that people need for understanding typical signs and/or risk factors of four relevant clinical conditions: myocardial infarction, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and HIV/AIDS. We tested to what degree Swiss adult citizens satisfy this criterion for MMK and whether people with medical experience have acquired better knowledge than those without.
Methods
Questionnaire interview in a Swiss urban area with 185 Swiss citizens (median age 29 years, interquartile range 23 to 49, 52% male). We obtained context information on age, gender, highest educational level, (para)medical background and specific health experience with one of the conditions in the social surrounding. We calculated the proportion of MMK and examined whether citizens with medical background (personal or professional) would perform better compared to other groups.
Results
No single citizen reached the full MMK (100%). The mean MMK was as low as 32% and the range was 0 -72%. Surprisingly, multivariable analysis showed that participants with a university degree (n = 84; beta (95% CI) +3.7% MMK (0.4-7.1) p = 0.03), (para)medical background (n = 34; +6.2% MMK (2.0-10.4), p = 0.004) and personal illness experience (n = 96; +4.9% MMK (1.5-8.2), p = 0.004) had only a moderately higher MMK than those without, while age and sex had no effect on the level of MMK. Interaction between university degree and clinical experience (personal or professional) showed no effect suggesting that higher education lacks synergistic effect.
Conclusions
This sample of Swiss citizens did not know more than a third of the MMK. We found little difference within groups with medical experience (personal or professional), suggesting that there is a consistent and dramatic lack of knowledge in the general public about the typical signs and risk factors of relevant clinical conditions.

 

[Amish Country]

Re: Do citizens have minimum medical knowledge? - A survey

The blessings of vaccines for childhood diseases come with a price. One of the costs of vaccine use is that many parents and guardians no longer are experienced or prepared to deal with any disease more severe than a colic or common cold. In past generations this knowledge came with the experience of child raising and dealing with then common childhood diseases. Now it has to be sought out.

Whooping cough, measles and mumps were probably all excellent in home practice for a flu pandemic. They would teach how to set up or improvise a sick room for the longer (few day, week or two) course of an illness, to stock supplies and equipment needed to care for a sick family member, how to care for the bedridden and how to quarantine the rest of the family from the contagion. Years back other more distant family members and society at large were educated enough to accept the family imposed quarantine and stay away. It was accepted and expected. In less transient, tight knit communities gossip could quickly warn other area residents who had what and where. Of course Doctors also made house calls!

Many of us have a lot to relearn before history repeats it's self.