Is the information available on the Web influencing the way parents see ENT surgical procedures?

Abstract

12 parents/guardians (10%) discussed the information with the physician assigned to perform the surgical procedure. 91 parents/guardians (78%) said that the information had impact upon the decision to have surgery performed on their children.

Health-Related Internet Use by Informal Caregivers of Children and Adolescents: An Integrative Literature Review

“…Of 17 studies, 7 were conducted in the United States. In the selected studies, children experienced a wide range of medical needs including (1) hearing loss [ 17 ]; congenital disease or developmental problems [ 18 ]; asthma [ 19 , 20 ]; hydrocephalus [ 21 ]; rare genetic diseases [ 22 ]; ear, nose, and throat surgeries [ 23 ]; and type 1 diabetes [ 24 ]. Study topics also included nonspecific diseases requiring primary health care [ 25 - 30 ], emergency care [ 30 - 32 ], and disability [ 33 ].…”

“…The majority of the 17 studies (12/17, 71%) used a wide range of age criteria even within a single study. Only 5 studies focused on specific age groups such as those aged 2-6 years [ 19 , 23 , 25 , 29 ] or preschoolers to 8th grade [ 19 , 23 , 24 , 29 ].…”

“…The majority of studies were limited to parents or legal guardians (14/17, 82%); the remaining studies were of relatives as caregivers (3/17, 18%). The majority of participants were female, usually mothers [ 17 , 23 , 24 , 27 - 29 , 33 ]. A high proportion of racial and ethnic minorities were found in only 4 studies; African Americans were the largest group in these studies, with proportions ranging from 32% [ 21 ] to 83% [ 32 ].…”

“…Half or more were daily users (49%-70%). In 2009, the generic search engines most frequently used were Google (79%), Yahoo (3%), and others (18%) [ 23 ]. Among general users, the most common places to access the Internet were at home (45%-87%) followed by anywhere using a smartphone (28%-71%), worksite (33%) and other places (3%-15%) including the library, community agencies, schools, and Internet cafés.…”

YouTube as an information source for pediatric adenotonsillectomy and ear tube surgery

“…While physicians remain the most important source of information in guiding a parent's decisions, the influence of information found on the internet clearly exists. In one study, 78% of parents reported that the information they found on the internet had an impact upon the decision to have an ENT surgical procedure performed on their children [4]. The third most popular website in the world, YouTube, is a source of user-uploaded video content [5].…”