Evaluating internet information on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment: Parent and expert perspectives

Abstract

Despite a poor/moderate inter-rater agreement between parent and expert opinions, all agreed that the quality of the web-based information on treatment choices for ADHD is generally poor.

Evaluation of an educational website for parents of children with ADHD

“…A significant increase in knowledge was found by those who accessed the website. This is similar to findings by Montoya et al [9] who found that higher quality and perceived credibility of a website 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 of those 16-34 years use the internet. Therefore, prescribing internet-based information may not be as inequitable as previously perceived; especially as the internet becomes more accessible to the wider population.…”

“…However, parents still continue to have unmet needs for information about their child's condition and treatment [5][6][7][8]. With increasingly stretched services and limited consultation time in clinics, there is less opportunity for professionals to provide adequate information for parents [9].…”

“…The importance of the concept of 'quality' for parents when sourcing information is of essence if they are to make well informed decisions about their child's care *9, 18, 26-28] Parents look to healthcare professionals for advice and guidance and prefer sources of information that are recommended by their paediatrician or nurse in order to improve knowledge, awareness and inform decision making [8, 9,11,13,14,22,29]. Healthcare professionals therefore have a responsibility to direct or 'prescribe' internet sources that are of high quality and relevant, and that this may be done as part of the consultation process [11,12,15,18,23,30].…”

Seeking Web-Based Information About Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Where, What, and When

“…The fact that only 35% of the clicked websites have been authorized by HoN indicates a preference of users for less authoritative websites, though possibly ones which provide more social support [48,49] or websites that serve the users’ prior beliefs. As a result of this pattern, research has found that both parents and experts agree that the quality of the Web-based information regarding treatment choices for ADHD is generally poor and does not address parents’ needs [27,48,50]. …”

“…The latter site was chosen both for its overall popularity, as well as its popularity specifically among parents of children with suspected or diagnosed ADHD (eg, [27]). The study was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Haifa, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, approval number 368/15.…”