Receipt of educational leaflet also reduces misperception of asymptomatic bacteriuria as urinary tract infection<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Receipt of a patient-centered educational leaflet decreases the desire to take antibiotics for asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB), according to a study published in the December issue of Open Forum Infectious Diseases<\/em>.<\/p>\n Alistair Thorpe, from the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and colleagues tested whether a patient-focused educational leaflet improved reported willingness to avoid antibiotics when not clinically necessary. Analysis included 504 U.S. adults \u226565 years reading a scenario of an asymptomatic patient with a positive urine test prior to a nonurologic surgical procedure. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions varying by leaflet receipt and surgeons’ treatment recommendation for antibiotics.<\/p>\n The researchers found that after reading the vignette, respondents shown the leaflet were more comfortable not taking antibiotics, were less likely to misperceive ASB as a urinary tract infection (UTI), and displayed greater knowledge. When told the surgeon recommends antibiotics, respondents were less comfortable not taking antibiotics and more likely to misperceive ASB as a UTI.<\/p>\n “These findings offer important preliminary evidence on the potential for patient-centered education to prepare patients and their caregivers to engage in ASB-related treatment decisions,” the authors write.<\/p>\n