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Patterns of internet use by parents of children attending a pediatric surgical service
F Hand1, Dermot Thomas McDowell, D T Mc Dowell
1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's University Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin 1, Ireland.
Insights
Parents frequently use the internet for their child's surgical issue, but clinician advice remains paramount. Understanding online information-seeking behaviors is key to effective patient engagement.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Health Informatics
- Patient Information Seeking Behavior
Background:
- The internet has transformed information access for parents regarding their children's health.
- Understanding parental online information-seeking is crucial in pediatric surgical care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the extent of internet use by parents of children in general surgical services.
- To identify trends in parents' online information-seeking behaviors related to pediatric surgery.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire survey was administered to parents in pediatric surgical units and outpatient departments.
- The survey adapted established methods to gather data on internet usage and information preferences.
Main Results:
- 82.3% of questionnaires were returned, with 38.3% of parents searching online for their child's surgical issue.
- Smartphone access, university education, and private insurance positively correlated with online searching (p < 0.005).
- While 51% found online information understandable, only 17% reported it influenced treatment decisions; surgeons were ranked highest (4.73) and the internet lowest (3.02) as information sources.
Conclusions:
- Significant internet utilization by parents seeking information on pediatric surgical conditions was observed.
- Clinician-provided information remains the most trusted source, despite widespread internet use.
- Engaging with patients to effectively utilize online resources alongside clinical guidance is recommended.
Purpose:
The internet has revolutionised the way we search for information. We determined the level of internet use by parents of children attending general surgical services and identified trends in online information-seeking behaviour.
Methods:
A questionnaire based on the work by Boston and Tassone was distributed to parents attending both the day surgical units and surgical outpatients department in a paediatric tertiary referral centre.
Results:
There were 214 (82.3 %) questionnaires returned, with 82 (38.3 %) of respondents having searched the internet regarding their child's surgical issue. Access to a smartphone, a university education and private health insurance were factors that positively influenced online searching (p < 0.005). Of those respondents who searched the internet, 42 (51 %) felt that information they found online was understandable, while only 14 (17 %) admitted to online sourced information influencing the treatment decisions they had made for their children. When asked to rank information sources on Likert-type scales in terms of importance; parents ranked the surgeon as most important (mean = 4.73), whilst the internet ranked lowest (mean = 3.02).
Conclusion:
We demonstrated significant use of the internet amongst those attending paediatric general surgical services. Clinician sourced information remains important, however we should engage with patients to utilise this vast resource effectively.
