Internet use and perceptions of information reliability by parents in a neonatal intensive care unit.
OBJECTIVE
To assess Internet use and perceptions of formation reliability by parents in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).


METHODS
A standardized questionnaire study.


RESULTS
A total of 100 parents were approached and 90% participated. In all, 79% owned a computer, 85.5% had Internet access, and 75.5% regularly spent >1 to 2 hour/day on the computer. There was a significant reduction in the proportion of parents using the Internet after birth of their baby (before birth: nonmedical searches 84% and medical searches 47%; after birth: nonmedical searches 40% and medical searches 29%; p<0.0001 and <0.03, respectively). Internet access was more likely in those with higher level of education (p=0.006) and fluency in reading English (p=0.05). In all, 80% considered the NICU doctors as a reliable source of medical information compared with 10% in the case of the Internet.


CONCLUSIONS
Although a considerable proportion of parents use the Internet for medical information, many still view the information obtained as unreliable.
Dhillon
Amrit S
AS
Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia and Children's and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Albersheim
Susan G
SG
Alsaad
Sulaiman
S
Pargass
Nisha S
NS
Zupancic
John A F
JA
D000328:Adult; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007255:Information Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008490:Medical Informatics; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D011336:Probability; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires