TY - JOUR
T1 - Neurology podcast utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic
AU - Siegler, James E.
AU - Boreskie, Patrick E.
AU - Strowd, Roy
AU - Rook, Robert
AU - Goss, Adeline
AU - Al-Mufti, Fawaz
AU - Rossow, Bonnie
AU - Miller, Alexandra
AU - Chamberlain, Amanda
AU - London, Zachary
AU - Hurley, Jennifer
AU - Geocadin, Romergryko
AU - Richie, Megan
AU - Isaacson, Richard
AU - Rybinnik, Igor
AU - Chan, Teresa M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Dr. Siegler reports receiving fees from the private sector for the production of podcast materials and content (BrainWaves: A Neurology Podcast, Neurocritical Care Society Podcast), and has received honoraria for speaking about online educational resources. Dr. Strowd receives an editorial stipend as Deputy Section Editor of the Resident and Fellow Section of Neurology®. Dr. Chan has received a grant from the PSI Foundation, Inc., for her work on knowledge translation using social media. The remaining authors report no competing financial interests exist with this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Fondazione Società Italiana di Neurologia.
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Background: As medical education shifted to a virtual environment during the early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we evaluated how neurology podcasting may have been utilized during this period, and which features of podcasts have been more highly sought by a medical audience. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of neurology-themed blogs and/or podcasts between April 2019 and May 2020. Programs were eligible if they reported mean monthly downloads > 2000, were affiliated with an academic society, or offered continuing medical education credit. Thirty-day download counts were compared between study months, with adjustment for multiple testing. Exploratory analyses were performed to determine which podcast features were associated with higher downloads. Results: Of the 12 neurology podcasts surveyed, 8 completed the survey and 5 met inclusion criteria. The median monthly download count was 2865 (IQR 869–7497), with significant variability between programs (p < 0.001). While there was a 358% increase in downloads during April 2020 when compared to the previous month, this was not significant (median 8124 [IQR 2913–14,177] vs. 2268 [IQR 540–6116], padj = 0.80). The non-significant increase in overall downloads during April 2020 corresponded to an increase in unique episodes during that month (r = 0.48, p = 0.003). There was no difference in 30-day downloads among episodes including COVID-19 content versus not (median 1979 [IQR 791–2873] vs. 1171 [IQR 405–2665], p = 0.28). Conclusions: In this unique, exploratory study of academic neurology-themed podcasts, there was no significant increase in episode downloads during the early COVID-19 pandemic. A more comprehensive analysis of general and subspecialty medical podcasts is underway.
AB - Background: As medical education shifted to a virtual environment during the early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we evaluated how neurology podcasting may have been utilized during this period, and which features of podcasts have been more highly sought by a medical audience. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of neurology-themed blogs and/or podcasts between April 2019 and May 2020. Programs were eligible if they reported mean monthly downloads > 2000, were affiliated with an academic society, or offered continuing medical education credit. Thirty-day download counts were compared between study months, with adjustment for multiple testing. Exploratory analyses were performed to determine which podcast features were associated with higher downloads. Results: Of the 12 neurology podcasts surveyed, 8 completed the survey and 5 met inclusion criteria. The median monthly download count was 2865 (IQR 869–7497), with significant variability between programs (p < 0.001). While there was a 358% increase in downloads during April 2020 when compared to the previous month, this was not significant (median 8124 [IQR 2913–14,177] vs. 2268 [IQR 540–6116], padj = 0.80). The non-significant increase in overall downloads during April 2020 corresponded to an increase in unique episodes during that month (r = 0.48, p = 0.003). There was no difference in 30-day downloads among episodes including COVID-19 content versus not (median 1979 [IQR 791–2873] vs. 1171 [IQR 405–2665], p = 0.28). Conclusions: In this unique, exploratory study of academic neurology-themed podcasts, there was no significant increase in episode downloads during the early COVID-19 pandemic. A more comprehensive analysis of general and subspecialty medical podcasts is underway.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Medical education
KW - Podcasting
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112358786&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85112358786&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10072-021-05549-9
DO - 10.1007/s10072-021-05549-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 34383158
AN - SCOPUS:85112358786
SN - 1590-1874
VL - 42
SP - 4437
EP - 4445
JO - Neurological Sciences
JF - Neurological Sciences
IS - 11
ER -