| Title | Internet use and perceptions of information reliability by parents in a neonatal intensive care unit. |
| Author(s) | Amrit S Dhillon MRCP(UK), MSc, Susan G Albersheim MD, FRCPC, Sulaiman Alsaad MD, Nisha S Pargass MRCPUK and John A F Zupancic MD, ScD |
| Source | J Perinatology, Vol. 23, No. 5, Pages 420-424 |
| Publication Date | July/August 2003 |
| Abstract | OBJECTIVES: To assess Internet use and perceptions of formation reliability by parents in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). STUDY DESIGN: 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. |