Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Physiotherapy, Monash University, Frankston, Australia
  • 2 Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
  • 3 Discipline of Physiotherapy and University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise (UCRISE), University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
  • 4 School of Primary Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
  • 5 Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
  • 6 JC School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Monash University, Malaysia
  • 7 Swami Vivekanand National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research, Odisha, India
J Am Med Inform Assoc, 2017 03 01;24(2):403-408.
PMID: 27357833 DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocw085

Abstract

Objective: Our objective was to compare the change in research informed knowledge of health professionals and their intended practice following exposure to research information delivered by either Twitter or Facebook.

Methods: This open label comparative design study randomized health professional clinicians to receive "practice points" on tendinopathy management via Twitter or Facebook. Evaluated outcomes included knowledge change and self-reported changes to clinical practice.

Results: Four hundred and ninety-four participants were randomized to 1 of 2 groups and 317 responders analyzed. Both groups demonstrated improvements in knowledge and reported changes to clinical practice. There was no statistical difference between groups for the outcomes of knowledge change (P = .728), changes to clinical practice (P = .11) or the increased use of research information (P = .89). Practice points were shared more by the Twitter group (P 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.