Fuoco Michael, Leveridge Michael J
Department of Urology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
BJU Int. 2015 Mar;115(3):491-7. doi: 10.1111/bju.12855. Epub 2014 Oct 23.
To understand the attitudes and practices of urologists regarding social media use. Social media services have become ubiquitous, but their role in the context of medical practice is underappreciated.
A survey was sent to all active members of the Canadian Urological Association by e-mail and surface mail. Likert scales were used to assess engagement in social media, as well as attitudes toward physician responsibilities, privacy concerns and patient interaction online.
Of 504 surveys delivered, 229 were completed (45.4%). Urologists reported frequent or daily personal and professional social media use in 26% and 8% of cases, respectively. There were no differences between paper (n = 103) or online (n = 126; P > 0.05) submissions. Among frequent social media users, YouTube (86%), Facebook (76%), and Twitter (41%) were most commonly used; 12% post content or links frequently to these sites. The most common perceived roles of social media in health care were for inter-professional communication (67%) or as a simple information repository (59%); online patient interaction was endorsed by 14% of urologists. Fewer than 19% had read published guidelines for online patient interaction, and ≤64% were unaware of their existence. In all, 94.6% agreed that physicians need to exercise caution personal social media posting, although 57% felt that medical regulatory bodies should 'stay out of [their] personal social media activities', especially those in practice <10 years (P = 0.001). In all, 56% agreed that social media integration in medical practice will be 'impossible' due to privacy and boundary issues; 73% felt that online interaction with patients would become unavoidable in the future, especially those in practice >20 years (P = 0.02).
Practicing urologists engage infrequently in social media activities, and are almost universal in avoiding social media for professional use. Most feel that social media is best kept to exchanges between colleagues. Emerging data suggest an increasing involvement is likely in the continuing professional development space.
了解泌尿外科医生对社交媒体使用的态度和行为。社交媒体服务已无处不在，但其在医疗实践中的作用尚未得到充分认识。
通过电子邮件和普通邮件向加拿大泌尿外科协会的所有活跃会员发送调查问卷。采用李克特量表评估社交媒体参与度，以及对医生责任、隐私问题和在线患者互动的态度。
在发放的504份调查问卷中，229份被完成（45.4%）。泌尿外科医生分别报告在26%和8%的情况下经常或每天使用个人和专业社交媒体。纸质问卷（n = 103）和在线问卷（n = 126）的回复率无差异（P > 0.05）。在经常使用社交媒体的用户中，最常用的是YouTube（86%）、Facebook（76%）和Twitter（41%）；12%的用户经常在这些网站上发布内容或链接。社交媒体在医疗保健中最常见的作用是用于专业间交流（67%）或作为简单的信息库（59%）；14%的泌尿外科医生认可在线患者互动。不到19%的医生阅读过关于在线患者互动的已发表指南，≤64%的医生不知道这些指南的存在。总体而言，94.6%的医生同意医生在个人社交媒体上发布内容时需要谨慎，尽管57%的医生认为医疗监管机构应“不干涉[他们的]个人社交媒体活动”，尤其是从业<10年的医生（P = 0.001）。总体而言，56%的医生同意由于隐私和界限问题，将社交媒体融入医疗实践“不可能”；73%的医生认为未来与患者的在线互动将不可避免，尤其是从业>20年的医生（P = 0.02）。
执业泌尿外科医生很少参与社交媒体活动，几乎普遍避免将社交媒体用于专业用途。大多数人认为社交媒体最好仅限于同事之间的交流。新出现的数据表明，在持续专业发展领域，参与度可能会不断提高。
