A natural history museum visitor survey of perception, attitude and knowledge (PAK) of microbes and antibiotics

Abstract

A kiosk-based survey at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 2016–2018 allowed us to assess public knowledge of antibiotics and public attitudes toward microbes in museum goers. Over 22,000 visitors from 172 countries and territories answered several carefully designed questions about microbes and antibiotics. These visitors also entered age, gender, and country demographic data that allowed for stratification along these demographic and geographic divisions. Because museum goers are likely to be better informed about these and other science-based topics, the results described here can set a potential upper bound for public knowledge on these topics. Surprisingly, the results of our analysis of museum goers’ answers about microbes and antibiotics indicate a substantial lack of familiarity with both topics. For example, overall only about 50% of respondents can correctly identify penicillin as an antibiotic and less than 50% of museum visitors view microbes as beneficial. The results described here suggest that we are perhaps off target with our educational efforts in this area and that a major shift in approach toward more basic microbial topics is warranted in our educational efforts.

A kiosk survey of perception, attitudes and knowledge (PAK) of Australians concerning microbes, antibiotics, probiotics and hygiene

“…A voluminous literature of studies of PAK with focus on antibiotics and antibiotic resistance exists. These studies include diverse approaches to understand public attitudes towards antibiotics in countries all across the globe 8 . With the recent spread of SARS‐Cov2 and the ensuing Covid19 pandemic, the need for proper and immediate information for the public has become even more acute.…”

“…By placing a polling kiosk in the public areas of the museum, we were able to poll over 40,000 people of all ages and from over 170 countries. Since the sample sizes from various parts of the world are considerable for many countries (ranging from 100 to 600 respondents for about 20% of the countries other than the United States), we decided to focus on Australian understanding of microbiology using this database 8 . The questions in the surveys were designed to test basic aspects of microbiology, antibiotics, probiotics and hygiene knowledge of the public.…”

“…Despite the global significance of microbes on human health, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] we found few studies on Australian public attitudes towards (and understanding of) microbes and associated topics (such as antibiotics, microbial diversity, probiotics and sanitation methods). In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) 18 conducted a global survey of awareness of antibiotic resistance that offered interesting conclusions about PAK in some Pacific countries but excluded Australia.…”

“…Since the sample sizes from various parts of the world are considerable for many countries (ranging from 100 to 600 respondents for about 20% of the countries other than the United States), we decided to focus on Australian understanding of microbiology using this database. 8 The questions in the surveys were designed to test basic aspects of microbiology, antibiotics, probiotics and hygiene knowledge of the public. Survey results from Australians were compared with those from other countries selected for geographic proximity and/or commonality of language (English)'.…”