98 - Information at Your Fingertips: Assessing Online Health Resources

Information at Your Fingertips: Assessing Online Health Resources. Cheung, J. O’Brien, A. Cole, A
(University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA)

Purpose: The aim of this survey-based study distributed to parents of patients at the University of
Pennsylvania Pediatric Clinic from September 2024 to January 2025, was to assess the reason behind
parental engagement of online resources and determine the effect of engagement on health care
decision making.

Methods: Parents were randomly recruited to complete the survey. Selection requirements included
English language as primary language and a child who was patient of the Pediatrics clinic. The survey had
two parts: part 1 identifies demographics and types of sources and part 2 identified reasons and
outcomes of online engagement.

Results: Seventy four parents correctly completed the survey. Part 2 trending data showed that the majority of
parents value the opinion of professionals, use Google and doctor’s visits to acquire information
regarding health concerns or directions. The majority of parents reported complete understanding when
learning health care information from both online or professional, dental in-person resources. About
three-quarters of parents do bring up new information acquired online to their dentist, and the majority
do not hesitate to accept dental treatment regardless of where information is learned.

Conclusion: Roughly 75% of parents present information received online to their child’s dentist. Despite
the widespread nature and variety of online resource use, the majority of parents still prefer, discuss
and ultimately accept dental treatment as directed by their child’s dentist.