Parental Internet Search in the field of Pediatric Orthopaedics � results from a prospective, controlled study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The internet has become one of the most important sources to obtain medical and health information. Parents, whose children are affected by systemic diseases, anomalies, deformities or further orthopaedic defective positions, use the internet to increase their knowledge. OBJECTIVE There is a lack of studies with focus of parental enquiries in the internet before contacting the pediatric orthopaedic surgeon. This study shows current trends and also allows a follow up. METHODS Parental internet search was evaluated using a standardized questionnaire. General habits of internet use, local hardware equipment, age and educational background of the parents were analyzed. In particular, parental use of general medical websites, use of search machines like Google or Yahoo or the use of homepages from support groups was asked. RESULTS A total of 521 questionnaires were completed, this corresponds to a response rate of 96%. One quarter of parents attended the consultation because of a gait anomaly or foot deformity, followed by children with DDH (20%), club foot (9%) and scoliosis (6%). 87% of parents use a Smartphone to get internet access, 68% a Laptop, 55% a Tablet and 45% a Laptop. Especially parents with children with clubfoot looked for health information online (80%), followed by scoliosis 69% (n=20), DDH 67% (n=66), foot deformity / gait anomaly 49% (n= 62). 98% of those using the internet for health medical purpose made use of a search engine, 99% (n=291) of internet users searched through Google, with 44% (n=129) of them describing their research helpful. Concerning use of social media responders of clubfoot children were again the most numerous in number (38%, n=18). 10 of them stated to have exchanged with other social media users and 60% of them evaluated social media as helpful. There were 35 parents who intended to discuss the results with their pediatric orthopedic surgeon. 84% of the responders who used the internet for health research would return to the internet. CONCLUSIONS This study documents that the internet is an important source of information for parents or caregivers in the field of pediatric orthopedics and that the meaning goes even further. Treating physicians will increasingly be confronted with the results of internet research. In particular, parents whose children suffer from club feet frequently research the Internet. CLINICALTRIAL The study was conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki. Prior to the investigations, an approval was secured by the local board of ethics on 8 of September 2017 (AZ 107/17).