Patients are increasingly turning to online physician ratings, just as they have sought ratings for other products and services. Much of what is known about these sites comes from studies of the ratings left on them. 1 Little is known about the public's awareness and use of online physician ratings, and whether these sites influence decisions about selecting a physician.

OBJECTIVE: Vaccine safety concerns can diminish parents' willingness to vaccinate their children. The objective of this study was to characterize the current prevalence of parental vaccine refusal and specific vaccine safety concerns and to determine whether such concerns were more common in specific population groups. METHODS: In January 2009, as part of a larger study of parents and nonparents, 2521 online surveys were sent to a nationally representative sample of parents of children who were aged ≤17 years. The main outcome measures were parental opinions on vaccine safety and whether the parent had ever refused a vaccine that a doctor recommended for his or her child. RESULTS: The response rate was 62%. Most parents agreed that vaccines protect their child(ren) from diseases; however, more than half of the respondents also expressed concerns regarding serious adverse effects. Overall, 11.5% of the parents had refused at least 1 recommended vaccine. Women were more likely to be concerned about serious adverse effects, to believe that some vaccines cause autism, and to have ever refused a vaccine for their child(ren). Hispanic parents were more likely than white or black parents to report that they generally follow their doctor's recommendations about vaccines for their children and less likely to have ever refused a vaccine. Hispanic parents were also more likely to be concerned about serious adverse effects of vaccines and to believe that some vaccines cause autism. CONCLUSIONS: Although parents overwhelmingly share the belief that vaccines are a good way to protect their children from disease, these same parents express concerns regarding the potential adverse effects and especially seem to question the safety of newer vaccines. Although information is available to address many vaccine safety concerns, such information is not reaching many parents in an effective or convincing manner.

CONTEXT: The source of health information can have an impact on the manner and frequency of its use. In the arena of vaccine safety, a variety of sources promulgate information from very different perspectives. The spectrum runs from traditional sources such as public health officials and physicians to nontraditional sources, such as celebrities. OBJECTIVE:To assess what proportion of parents trust vaccine information from different sources and whether different groups of parents vary in their trust of such information. METHODS:In January 2009, as part of a larger study of parents and nonparents, 2521 online surveys were fielded to a nationally representative sample of parents of children aged Յ17 years. The main outcome measure was the source credibility of vaccine-safety information used by parents. RESULTS:The response rate was 62%. Parents reported trusting their children's doctor for vaccine-safety information most often (76% endorsed a lot of trust), followed by other health care providers (26%), government vaccine experts/officials (23%), and family and friends (15%). In contrast, celebrities were trusted a lot by 2% of the respondents and not at all by 76% of the respondents. Levels of trust in specific sources of vaccine-safety information varied significantly by gender (women Ͼ men) and race/ethnicity (Hispanics Ͼ other groups). CONCLUSIONS:Although most parents place a lot of trust in their child(ren)'s physician, parents' trust in non-health professional sources for such information should not be discounted. Those who design public health efforts to provide evidence-based information must recognize that different strategies may be required to reach some groups of parents who use other information sources. Pediatrics 2011;127:S107-S112

More than 1 of 10 parents of young children currently use an alternative vaccination schedule. In addition, a large proportion of parents currently following the recommended schedule seem to be "at risk" for switching to an alternative schedule.

Background: State newborn screening (NBS) programs are considering the storage and use of NBS blood samples for research. However, no systematic assessment of parents’ attitudes exists. Methods: We conducted an Internet-based survey of a nationally representative parent sample. We examined parents’ willingness (1) to permit use of their children’s NBS samples for research with/without their permission and (2) to allow NBS sample storage. Using bivariate and multinomial logistic regression, we examined the association of parent and child characteristics with parents’ willingness to permit NBS sample storage and use for research, respectively. Results: The response rate was 49.5%. If permission is obtained, 76.2% of parents were ‘very or somewhat willing’ to permit use of the NBS sample for research. If permission is not obtained, only 28.2% of parents were ‘very or somewhat willing’. Of parents surveyed, 78% would permit storage of their children’s NBS sample. Parents who refused NBS sample storage were also less willing to permit use of the NBS sample for research. Conclusions: Three-quarters of parents would permit use of their children’s NBS samples for research – if their permission is obtained. Parents not in favor of storing NBS samples often opposed the use of NBS samples for research.