Patterns of internet use by parents of children attending a pediatric surgical service.

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.