ArticlePediatric surgery international2013
Patterns of internet use by parents of children attending a pediatric surgical service.
Article in Pediatric surgery international, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Online Health Information Seeking by Parents for Their Children: Systematic Review and Agenda for Further Research.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Pooled it
- Dr Google: Which Parents are Performing the Most Online Research Prior to the First Clinic Visit?Journal of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America · 2025Article
- Applications and Assessment of Social Media in Pediatric Orthopedics: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Article
- Online health information seeking behaviours of parents of children undergoing surgery in a pediatric hospital in Rome, Italy: a survey.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2020Article
- Implementation Effectiveness of a Parent-Directed YouTube Video ("It Doesn't Have To Hurt") on Evidence-Based Strategies to Manage Needle Pain: Descriptive Survey Study.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2020Article
- The Use of Social Media in Pediatric Urology-Forging New Paths or Crossing Boundaries?Current urology reports · 2019Review
- Disparity in online health information in pediatric vs. adult surgical conditions.Pediatric surgery international · 2019Article
- Parental internet search in the field of pediatric orthopedics.European journal of pediatrics · 2019Article
- Internet Use by Parents of Children With Rare Conditions: Findings From a Study on Parents' Web Information Needs.Journal of medical Internet research · 2017Article
- Parental Evaluation of a Nurse Practitioner-Developed Pediatric Neurosurgery Website.JMIR research protocols · 2016Article
- Use of online health information to manage children's health care: a prospective study investigating parental decisions.BMC health services research · 2015Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issuedMc Dowell, D T [corrected to McDowell, Dermot Thomas]
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe 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.
methodsA 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.
resultsThere 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).
conclusionWe 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.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.