Table 2.
Mean Ratings on a Disagreement-Agreement Scale with Items Describing the Gist of Antibiotics Expectations, Grouped by Gist
| Item short form | Item full text | Sample Mean (SD) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online (N=519) |
ED Patients (N=225) |
Providers (N=149) |
||
| Germs are Germs | ||||
| Yes against viruses | Antibiotics work against viruses. | −1.26 (1.88) | −0.25 (2.05) | −2.81 (0.60) |
| No against viruses | Antibiotics do NOT work against viruses. | 1.25 (1.87) | 0.33 (2.01) | 2.74 (0.64) |
| Yes against bacteria | Antibiotics work against bacteria. | 1.84 (1.22) | 1.84 (1.19) | 2.54 (0.83) |
| No against bacteria | Antibiotics do NOT work against bacteria. | −1.76 (1.41) | −1.58 (1.45) | −2.40 (1.29) |
| Viral can turn into bacterial | Sometimes a viral illness turns into something that needs treating with an antibiotic. | 0.73 (1.65) | 1.08 (1.52) | 1.81 (0.98) |
| Viral can’t turn into bacterial | A viral illness never turns into something that needs treating with an antibiotic. | −0.69 (1.56) | −0.78 (1.72) | −2.11 (0.93) |
| Why Not Take a Risk? (Antibiotics Don’t Hurt) | ||||
| Don’t know about ABX, but it can’t hurt/ABX can’t hurt | I don’t know if an antibiotic can make me better, but it can’t hurt to take them./It can’t hurt the patient to take antibiotics. | −0.70 (1.75) | −0.23 (1.87) | −1.50 (1.29) |
| Might not help, but better safe than sorry | Antibiotics might not make (me/the patient) better, but it is better to be safe than sorry so (I/he/she) should take them. | −0.57 (1.83) | 0.23 (1.82) | −1.56 (1.08) |
| Take ABX just in case | Antibiotics might not make (me/the patient) better, but (I/he/she) should take them just in case. | −0.71 (1.78) | −0.19 (1.90) | −1.78 (1.13) |
| ABX might help and can’t hurt | (I/The patient) should take antibiotics because they might help and can’t hurt. | −0.69 (1.74) | −0.15 (1.82) | −1.77 (1.04) |
| It can’t hurt | It can’t hurt to take antibiotics. | −0.81 (1.71) | −0.36 (1.88) | −1.68 (1.29) |
| Better safe than sorry | (I/The patient) should take antibiotics because it’s better to be safe than sorry. | −0.47 (1.81) | 0.13 (1.87) | −1.72 (1.10) |
| Might as well take a chance | (I am already/The patient is) sick, so (I) might as well take a chance that antibiotics will help. | −0.43 (1.85) | 0.30 (1.86) | −1.52 (1.24) |
| Better safe than sorry, so take ABX | It is better to be safe than sorry, so (I/the patient) should take antibiotics. | −0.48 (1.83) | 0.21 (1.84) | −1.56 (1.20) |
| Might not work but why take a chance? | An antibiotic might not work, but why take a chance on not getting better? | −0.45 (1.68) | 0.10 (1.81) | −1.16 (1.34) |
| Antibiotics Don’t Help | ||||
| Might not help, so better not to take ABX | Antibiotics might not make (me/the patient) better, so (I/he/she) should NOT take them. | −0.16 (1.67) | −0.93 (1.61) | 0.84 (1.28) |
| Don’t take ABX if they don’t make me better | (I/The patient) should NOT take antibiotics if they might not make (me/him/her) better. | 0.51 (1.73) | 0.25 (1.83) | 0.81 (1.40) |
| ABX don’t help and can hurt | (I/The patient) should NOT take antibiotics because they don't help and they can hurt. | −0.61 (1.61) | −1.25 (1.53) | 1.07 (1.37) |
| ABX might not be safe | (I/The patient) should NOT take antibiotics because they might not be safe. | −0.57 (1.50) | −1.01 (1.53) | 0.17 (1.37) |
| Should NOT take a chance | (I am/The patient is) already sick, but (I) should NOT take a chance on getting worse (by taking antibiotics). | −0.54 (1.63) | −1.12 (1.64) | −0.32 (1.51) |
| Better safe than sorry, so no ABX | It is better to be safe than sorry, so (I/the patient) should NOT take antibiotics. | −0.22 (1.70) | −0.91 (1.54) | 0.42 (1.36) |
| Might not work so why take ABX? | An antibiotic might not work, so why take one? | −0.23 (1.66) | −0.88 (1.66) | 0.40 (1.39) |
| Side Effects (Antibiotics Hurt) | ||||
| Don’t know, but (I/pt) might get side effects | I don't know if an antibiotic can make (me/the patient) better, but (I/he/she) might get side effects (if I take/from taking) them. | 0.80 (1.46) | 0.51 (1.65) | 1.35 (1.09) |
| Don’t know but (I/pt) won’t get side effects | I don’t know if an antibiotic can make (me/the patient) better, but (I/he/she) will NOT get side effects (if I take/from taking) them. | −0.93 (1.47) | −0.92 (1.55) | −1.74 (1.01) |
| (I/Pt) might get side effects | (I/The patient) might get side effects if (I/he/she) take antibiotics. | 1.02 (1.41) | 1.11 (1.50) | 1.79 (0.81) |
| (I/Pt) won’t get side effects | (I/The patient) will NOT get side effects if (I/he/she) take antibiotics. | −0.86 (1.36) | −1.06 (1.44) | −1.48 (1.02) |
| ABX might have side effects | Antibiotics might have harmful side effects. | 0.95 (1.41) | 0.93 (1.53) | 1.95 (0.79) |
| ABX don’t have side effects | Antibiotics do NOT have harmful side effects. | −1.09 (1.38) | −1.15 (1.53) | −2.07 (0.96) |
| Don’t know about ABX, but it might hurt/ ABX could hurt pt | I don’t know if an antibiotic can make (me/the patient) better, but it could hurt (the patient) to take them. | 0.44 (1.70) | −0.08 (1.77) | 1.55 (0.90) |
| It could hurt | It could hurt to take antibiotics./ It could hurt the patient to take antibiotics. | 0.59 (1.67) | 0.06 (1.83) | 1.70 (0.99) |
| Antibiotics Help | ||||
| Yes against germs | Antibiotics work against all germs. | −1.61 (1.37) | −0.99 (1.78) | −2.63 (0.66) |
| No against germs | Antibiotics only work against some germs. | 1.68 (1.31) | 1.30 (1.54) | 2.50 (0.87) |
| (I/Pt) (don’t/doesn’t) need ABX | (I/The patient) will get better even if (I don’t/he/she doesn’t) take antibiotics. | 0.88 (1.32) | −0.11 (1.59) | 1.49 (0.93) |
| (I/Pt) need ABX | (I/The patient) won’t get better unless (I take/he/she takes) antibiotics. | 1.18 (1.46) | −0.51 (1.73) | −1.97 (0.95) |
| I know ABX help | I know an antibiotic can make (me/the patient) better | −0.47 (1.68) | 0.63 (1.74) | −1.52 (1.12) |
| I don’t know if ABX help | I don’t know if an antibiotic can make (me/the patient) better. | 0.78 (1.57) | −0.03 (1.65) | 0.28 (1.55) |
| ABX will help | Antibiotics will make (me/the patient) better. | 0.04 (1.33) | 0.74 (1.36) | −1.26 (1.17) |
| ABX might not help | Antibiotics might not make (me/the patient) better. | −1.40 (1.26) | 0.52 (1.77) | 1.85 (0.85) |
| Symptoms go away with ABX | (My/The patient’s) symptoms will only go away with antibiotics. | −0.94 (1.53) | −0.58 (1.72) | −1.95 (0.95) |
| Symptoms don’t go away with ABX | (My/The patient’s) symptoms will NOT go away with antibiotics. | −0.32 (1.43) | −0.63 (1.52) | 0.16 (1.67) |
| Antibiotics Should be Taken for Strep Throat | ||||
| Yes for strep | Antibiotics should be taken for strep throat. | 1.16 (1.50) | 1.30 (1.47) | 1.77 (1.48) |
| No for strep | Antibiotics should NOT be taken for strep throat. | −1.14 (1.52) | −1.24 (1.57) | −1.94 (1.21) |
| The Doctor Doesn’t Believe Me | ||||
| Doctor doesn’t believe me/I don’t believe pt | If a doctor doesn’t give me an antibiotic, the doctor doesn’t believe that I am really sick/If | −1.55 (1.44) | −1.44 (1.64) | −0.89 (1.38) |
| Doctor takes (me/pt) seriously | I don't prescribe an antibiotic the patient won't think I believe that he/she is really sick. A doctor who takes my illness seriously will only give me an antibiotic if I need it./ The patient knows that I will only prescribe antibiotics if he/she needs them. | 1.73 (1.43) | 1.38 (1.70) | 0.34 (1.52) |
| Going to the ER Necessitates Antibiotics | ||||
| ER means ABX | If (I am/ my patient is) sick enough to go to the emergency room, (I/he/she) should get antibiotics. | −0.66 (1.82) | 1.03 (1.77) | −2.02 (1.01) |
| ER doesn’t mean ABX | Just because (I am/the patient is) sick enough to go to the emergency room does NOT mean (I/he/she) should get antibiotics. | 1.15 (1.62) | −0.68 (1.78) | 1.97 (0.98) |
Note. ABX = antibiotics. Pt = Patient. SD = Standard Deviation. Each survey contained both versions of each question. Responses were recorded using a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly disagree (−3) to strongly agree (+3). A source reference for each gist is given in parentheses.