Users are passive in accessing digested scientific evidence using social media: impressions from a cross-sectional study and an insight about how to overcome this barrier (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND The use of and interest in social media by health professionals as a tool for being updated as well as interacting with new scientific evidence are a reality. OBJECTIVE This manuscript aims to describe the first impressions from the development and the implementation of a social media web page to share digested scientific evidence (evidence translated by professionals/scientists into a more straightforward way to clinicians). Besides, we aimed to expose strengths and weakness we observed for this approach. Finally, we present a manner to overcome possible barriers found when implementing the dissemination of evidence-based information to potential users (clinicians). METHODS An institutional Facebook web page was launched by some researchers from the Dental School of the University of São Paulo, aiming to share reliable scientific evidence and offer scientifically digested evidence to permit clinicians to get the reliable information in Pediatric Dentistry. Another purpose was to empower them to understand further how and why such evidence could be relevant to guide their clinical practice. We collected the web page metrics of usability: posts reach (potential views) and users’ involvement (approvals, clicks on posts, comments, and shares). The relationship between the magnitude of the post reach and users’ involvement was tested using Bootstrapping Quantile Regression analysis (x1000). Weakness and strengths related to this strategy using the Facebook page were identified, and solutions proposed to minimize identified barriers. RESULTS After one year, the number of followers on Facebook page reached 1,347. The publications were potentially exposed to 4,784 users, and subsequent interaction with the page occurred only in 18% of cases. Users’ involvement with page content was associated with the number of users that visit the page (P= .005). However, users’ interaction with the page was not associated with the potential number of users that could have seen the page. (P= .25; Coef=.04; 95%;CI= -0.03 to .12). Even considering the users that effectively approved the posts, only 7%, on average, interacted with the links available into the post to going deeper to the topic. CONCLUSIONS Although social media being effective to rapidly and globally disseminate scientific content, our experience revealed the user’s passivity of our Facebook page in interacting with links to access information beyond those scientifically digested by the initiative. We expect to overcome users’ passivity with the development of a mobile app with the same purpose of the Facebook page, but offering a more interactive and dynamic interface.