Abstract
Background: Reports of an increase in the incidence and severity of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections provoked widespread media attention in October 2007. This study attempted to determine whether this widespread media attention led to changes in physician practices related to skin infections.
Design: Data collection via LexisNexis, Central New York (CNY) microbiologic laboratory records, publicly available data on Internet search activity, and a survey of CNY healthcare providers allowed for examination of concurrent trends in media attention, public information-seeking behavior, and physician response.
Results: During the period of October 15-29, 2007, a roughly 10-fold increase in the number of newspaper and television news broadcasts mentioning "MRSA" and "staph" coincided with a six-to eightfold increase in Internet search activity for the terms "MRSA" and "staph" and a 79 percent increase in provider-reported patient concern with MRSA. In addition, providers reported more frequent orders for cultures and prescription of antibiotics since then. Practices serving urban or low socioeconomic status patients tended to see less MRSA-related concern and activity, indicating a potential disparity in penetration of MRSA information into different populations.
Conclusions: Increased media coverage of MRSA coincided with increased public information-seeking behavior. Self-reported survey data demonstrate that this period was associated with a change in healthcare provider practice, and a concomitant twofold increase in the number of outpatient skin and soft tissue cultures reinforces this link. However, increased public attention appears not to have penetrated urban, less-affluent areas, raising questions about how quickly healthcare information penetrates different patient populations.