Online health information seeking behaviours of parents of children undergoing surgery in a pediatric hospital in Rome, Italy: a survey

Abstract

Abstract Background People increasingly search online for health information. Particularly, parents of patients often use the Internet as a source for health information. We conducted a survey to investigate the online searching behavior of parents of patients 43 km) were more likely to search for health information (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.34–4.00), as were families of patients undergoing a major surgery (OR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.04–4.11). Conclusions Parents of children undergoing surgery often search online for information on their child’s intervention, in particular those whose child is scheduled for a major surgery and those living far from the hospital. A survey like the present one allows to understand parents’ information needs, to better guide them in online information seeking and to better tailor information provided on the care provider’s website.

Keywords

• Children
• Surgery
• Internet
• Information search