Parents’ health information seeking behaviour – does the child’s health status play a role?

Abstract

Background Digital media are increasingly abundant providing a wide scope of health information. To date, very little is known about parental health information seeking behaviour for child health outside of English-speaking and Nordic countries. Our study “Digital parental counsellors” examines how parents search for health information in digital media, print media and among “personal contacts”, distinguishing between the search for information about general child health and development and child’s acute illness, and comparing information seeking behaviour by disability status of the child. Methods The population-based sample consisted of 769 parents with children aged 0–2 in the German-speaking region of Switzerland returning the study questionnaire (30% response rate). We developed a frequency score of use of different information sources and conducted bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses to describe parental search behaviour and the association with child’s disability status. Results The sample consists of 88% mothers (mean age: 35.7 years SD 4.33). Children’s mean age is 16 months (SD 7.1), 49% of the children are female and 6% have a disability. Parents use digital media significantly more frequently to search for information about general health and development questions than about an acute child’s illness (p < 0.001). In case of acute child’s illness, parents refer to their paediatrician, family members and other personal contacts significantly more frequently than other information sources (p < 0.001). The use of digital media and “personal contacts” does not significantly vary between parents with and without a disabled child, whereas the use of print media does (p < 0.02). Moreover, irrespective of disability, 45% of parents resort to the Internet prior to a paediatric visit and 27% after a visit when a visit did not answer all questions. Conclusions Despite the high prevalence of digital media, personal contacts are still the most frequent health information resource for parents with young children, irrespective of the child’s health. Parents combine all information resources (online, print, personal network) to improve their understanding or check the validity of information received regarding their child’s health. It is thus of utmost importance, that the increasingly accessed digital information parents search for is correct, understandable and addresses parent’s concerns. Trial registration BASEC Req-2017-00817 (30 October 2017).

Characteristics of Acute Childhood Illness Apps for Parents: Environmental Scan

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Parents’ Use of Social Media for Health Information Before and After a Consultation With Health Care Professionals: Australian Cross-Sectional Study

“…A 47-item survey developed from previously validated tools combined multiple-choice questions with optional open-text fields and Likert scales [22,23]. The first section explored parents' use of social media, the information sought, and motivations for using social media for child health information.…”

How do parents access, appraise, and apply health information on early childhood allergy prevention? A focus group and interview study

“…Previous research—not specific to the field of allergy prevention—focused on what prompts parents to seek health information ( 18 ) and what the topics of information searches are ( 19 ), such as understanding the basics of asthma and how to treat symptoms ( 20 ). Moreover, research concluded that parents start their (digital) searches most frequently via Google ( 19 ) and that, while they frequently use digital sources, HCPs remain a central, trusted source of information ( 21 ). For ECAP, it seems necessary to know not only which sources parents use and why, but also how they identify them and decide which to use, how they find them helpful, and how the information influences parents' decision-making.…”