The Internet versus pediatricians as a source of infant teething information for parents in Turkey

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:Parents are increasingly searching the Internet to gather information about their children’s health care. This study compared infant teething information obtained from publically employed pediatricians in Istanbul with that obtained from different Turkish websites (parenting, health, professional, news and commercial).METHODS:This study had two parts. The first part used a descriptive design, with two checklists to assess the quality and comprehensiveness of the teething-specific content on 62 parenting or health websites. The second part was a cross-sectional study of 75 pediatricians at public hospitals who completed a structured self-administered questionnaire.RESULTS:In total, 54 websites (87.1%) described infant teething as a normal developmental process. The lists that were found on the websites identified the most frequent signs of infant teething as fever and drooling/perioral rash. The most frequent management strategies were chewing non-chilled and chilled objects. For teething problems, some pediatricians recommended teething rings and oral benzocaine, while 23 pediatricians recommended nothing.CONCLUSIONS:Parents should be informed by health professionals, especially regarding specific treatment strategies.

Youtube™ Vi̇deolarinin Di̇ş Sürme Semptomlari İçi̇n Ebeveyn Bi̇lgi̇ Kaynaği Olarak Değerlendi̇ri̇lmesi̇

“…Haznedaroğlu et al( 2016) evaluated websites as a source of information on teething symptoms in Turkey and reported that the most included symptoms were drooling, restless sleep, gingival inflammation and chewing. 29 HajiAhmadi et al( 2020) examined websites about teething symptoms, it was reported that the most common symptoms mentioned on the websites were increased drooling, gingival inflammation, chewing, irritability, crankiness, crying and decreased appetite, in parallel with this study. 30 Many pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods are often recommended for the treatment of these existing teething symptoms in infants.…”

“…In a study, it was reported that less than 50% of the sites did not have an author or reference. 29 The reliability of non-referenced information is doubtful, and people who seek information on the internet should be warned by healthcare professionals that such information may be misleading.…”

Problems Experienced by Babies Between 4-36 Months During Teething Process and the Practices Made by Mothers

“…Literatürde diş çıkarma sırasında bebeklerin sorun yaşaması ile ilgili kesin bir görüş olmasa da araştırmamızda ve araştırmamıza benzer diğer çalışmalarda (1-3, 9, 11-13, 15, 21-26, 28, 29), anneler bebeklerinin diş çıkarma sürecinde lokal veya sistemik birçok sorun yaşadığını belirtmişlerdir. Bebeklerin diş çıkarma süreci ebeveynler için stresli ve zor geçen bir dönem olabilir (16). Bu nedenle ebeveynler diş çıkarma sürecinde bebeklerini rahatlatmak için çeşitli yöntemlere başvurmaktadır (4).…”

“…%35.9), diş etine masaj yapma (%34.5), emzirme sıklığını artırma (%30.3) ve emzik verme (%28.3) olduğu belirlendi (Tablo 4). Araştırmaya katılan annelerin %47,6'sı (n=69) yaptıkları bu uygulamaların bebeklerinin yaşadıkları sorunları azalttığını ifade etti.TartışmaBebeklerin süt dişleri genellikle doğumdan 4-10 ay sonra çıkmaya başlar(16). Araştırmamızda bebeklerin ilk dişlerini 4-18 ay arasında çıkardığı, bebeklerin ortalama diş çıkarma zamanının 7.55 ± 2.24 ay olduğu bulundu.…”

Information Needs of Families on the Health/Disease of Preterm Infants in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

“…39 In contrast, high-quality on-line health information can broaden parents' knowledge and be useful for child development counseling; however, it does not replace information offered in person by professionals, especially in cases of indication of specific treatment. 40…”