Parental digital health information seeking behavior in Switzerland: a cross-sectional study

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

Digital media are increasingly abundant and used to seek health information, however, to date very little is known on parents’ seeking behavior in the context of child’s health and development outside English-speaking and Scandinavian countries. By investigating the prevalence of, and reasons for use, we studied parents’ perception of the Internet as a resource for improving their health-related knowledge.

Methods

The survey was conducted in a random sample of 2573 Swiss-German parents with at least one child aged less-than 2 years old. Parents received a mailed invitation to fill in an online questionnaire. Two reminders were sent, the later with a paper questionnaire attached. The questionnaire included questions on use of print, digital, and personal information sources, as well as different information situations: general health and development or illness. We ran descriptive analyses on information seeking behavior, type of digital media used, reasons of use. We also conducted regression analyses to explore factors associated with parental perceptions with regard to the Internet’s utility as a source for health information.

Results

A total of 769 questionnaires were returned (response rate 30%). Nearly all parents (91%) used digital media for seeking information on their child’s health and development, and the main reason for use was indicated as being the 24/7 availability of information. Search engines (55%) and webpages for parents (47%) were by far the most frequently used digital media. Generally, the internet is perceived as a good resource, especially by fathers (OR = 1.80, 95% CI: 1.03–3.16). However, a large percentage of parents are skeptical about the correctness of online info (91%), are unsure about their interpretive understanding, and ask for guidance from their pediatrician (67%).

Conclusions

The Internet has become a highly frequented source of information for Swiss-German parents on children’s health with largely valuable perceptions of its utility. Digital media are used in addition to and not in replacement of print media and personal contacts. Increasing parental guidance by health and public health professionals could improve parental digital health utilization and empower parents in the new role they adopt.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6524-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Related collections

Most cited references 34

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

European citizens' use of E-health services: A study of seven countries

Hege K Andreassen, Maria Bujnowska-Fedak, Catherine E Chronaki … (2007)

Background European citizens are increasingly being offered Internet health services. This study investigated patterns of health-related Internet use, its consequences, and citizens' expectations about their doctors' provision of e-health services. Methods Representative samples were obtained from the general populations in Norway, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Latvia. The total sample consisted of 7934 respondents. Interviews were conducted by telephone. Results 44 % of the total sample, 71 % of the Internet users, had used the Internet for health purposes. Factors that positively affected the use of Internet for health purposes were youth, higher education, white-collar or no paid job, visits to the GP during the past year, long-term illness or disabilities, and a subjective assessment of one's own health as good. Women were the most active health users among those who were online. One in four of the respondents used the Internet to prepare for or follow up doctors' appointments. Feeling reassured after using the Internet for health purposes was twice as common as experiencing anxieties. When choosing a new doctor, more than a third of the sample rated the provision of e-health services as important. Conclusion The users of Internet health services differ from the general population when it comes to health and demographic variables. The most common way to use the Internet in health matters is to read information, second comes using the net to decide whether to see a doctor and to prepare for and follow up on doctors' appointments. Hence, health-related use of the Internet does affect patients' use of other health services, but it would appear to supplement rather than to replace other health services.

0 comments Cited 189 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Patients' and health professionals' use of social media in health care: motives, barriers and expectations.

Theodoor Nieboer, Marjolijn L Antheunis, Kiek Tates (2013)

To investigate patients' and health professionals' (a) motives and use of social media for health-related reasons, and (b) barriers and expectations for health-related social media use. We conducted a descriptive online survey among 139 patients and 153 health care professionals in obstetrics and gynecology. In this survey, we asked the respondents about their motives and use of social network sites (SNS: Facebook and Hyves), Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Results showed that patients primarily used Twitter (59.9%), especially for increasing knowledge and exchanging advice and Facebook (52.3%), particularly for social support and exchanging advice. Professionals primarily used LinkedIn (70.7%) and Twitter (51.2%), for communication with their colleagues and marketing reasons. Patients' main barriers for social media use were privacy concerns and unreliability of the information. Professionals' main barriers were inefficiency and lack of skills. Both patients and professionals expected future social media use, provided that they can choose their time of social media usage. The results indicate disconcordance in patients' and professionals' motives and use of social media in health care. Future studies on social media use in health care should not disregard participants' underlying motives, barriers and expectations regarding the (non)use of social media. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

0 comments Cited 179 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

The use and value of digital media for information about pregnancy and early motherhood: a focus group study

Deborah Lupton (2016)

Background Many women in countries in the global North access digital media information sources during pregnancy and the early years of motherhood. These include websites, blogs, online discussion forums, apps and social media platforms. Little previous research has sought to investigate in detail how women use the diverse range of digital media now available to them and what types of information they value. A qualitative study using focus groups was conducted to address these issues. Methods Four focus groups were held in Sydney, Australia, including a total of 36 women who were either pregnant or had given birth in the previous three years. The participants were asked to talk about the types of digital media they used for pregnancy and parenting purposes, why they used them and in what ways they found them useful or helpful (or not). Group discussions were transcribed and thematically analysed, identifying the dominant information characteristics identified by women as valuable and useful. Results Nine characteristics emerged from the focus group discussions as most important to women: information that was: 1) immediate; 2) regular; 3) detailed; 4) entertaining; 5) customised; 6) practical; 7) professional; 8) reassuring; and 9) unbiased. These characteristics were valued for different purposes and needs. Digital media provided women with details when they most needed them or at times when they had opportunities to access them. The study showed that women value apps or digital platforms that are multi-functional. The findings revealed the importance of using digital information for establishing and maintaining social connections and intimate relationships with other mothers. However, participants also highly valued expert advice and expressed the desire for greater and more ready access to information and support offered by healthcare professionals. Conclusions Pregnant women and those with young children place a high value on the information and support they receive from and sharing using online sources and apps. They are accustomed to ready and immediate access to information using digital technologies and want better access to that offered by professionals. Recognising and finding ways to meet these needs should be included in planning healthcare provision and support for this group. Further research with women from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and non-urban locations is required to identify whether they have different information needs and values from the women who were included in the study reported here.

0 comments Cited 94 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Rebecca Jaks:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4998-2792

+41 58 934 63 72 , rebecca.jaks@zhaw.ch

Isabel Baumann: isabel.baumann@zhaw.ch

Sibylle Juvalta: sibylle.juvalta@zhaw.ch

Julia Dratva: julia.dratva@zhaw.ch

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Public Health

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Public Health

Title: BMC Public Health

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1471-2458

Publication date (Electronic): 21 February 2019

Publication date PMC-release: 21 February 2019

Publication date Collection: 2019

Volume: 19

Electronic Location Identifier: 225

Affiliations

[1 ]ISNI 0000000122291644, GRID grid.19739.35, Departement Gesundheit, , ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften, Institut für Gesundheitswissenschaften, ; Technikumstrasse 71 Postfach, CH-8401 Winterthur, Switzerland

[2 ]National Center of Competence in Research “Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives”, Winterthur, Switzerland

[3 ]ISNI 0000 0004 1937 0642, GRID grid.6612.3, Medical Faculty, , University of Basel, ; Basel, Switzerland

Author information

Rebecca Jaks http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4998-2792

Article

Publisher ID: 6524

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-019-6524-8

PMC ID: 6385444

PubMed ID: 30791927

SO-VID: 492e5313-cf79-4394-9cf0-289f80bb6816

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

History

Date received : 17 October 2018

Date accepted : 8 February 2019

Funding

Funded by: FundRef http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100008485, Schweizerische Akademie der Medizinischen Wissenschaften;

Award ID: KZS 07/17

Award Recipient : Julia Dratva

Custom metadata

ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health

Keywords: digital media,child health,parenting,information seeking,health information sources,internet

Data availability:

ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health

Keywords: digital media, child health, parenting, information seeking, health information sources, internet

Parental digital health information seeking behavior in Switzerland: a cross-sectional study

Read this article at

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Electronic supplementary material

Related collections

Annual Reviews Child Development

Most cited references 34

European citizens' use of E-health services: A study of seven countries

Patients' and health professionals' use of social media in health care: motives, barriers and expectations.

The use and value of digital media for information about pregnancy and early motherhood: a focus group study

Author and article information

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Author information

Article

History

Funding

Categories

Custom metadata

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 121

Cited by 37

Most referenced authors 400