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BMC Health Services Research
Published in: BMC Health Services Research 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Use of online health information to manage children’s health care: a prospective study investigating parental decisions

Authors: Anne M Walsh, Kyra Hamilton, Katherine M White, Melissa K Hyde

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

The use of the internet to access information is rapidly increasing; however, the quality of health information provided on various online sites is questionable. We aimed to examine the underlying factors that guide parents’ decisions to use online information to manage their child’s health care, a behaviour which has not yet been explored systematically.

Methods

Parents (N = 391) completed a questionnaire assessing the standard theory of planned behaviour (TPB) measures of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC), and intention as well as the underlying TPB belief-based items (i.e., behavioural, normative, and control beliefs) in addition to a measure of perceived risk and demographic variables. Two months later, consenting parents completed a follow-up telephone questionnaire which assessed the decisions they had made regarding their use of online information to manage their child’s health care during the previous 2 months.

Results

We found support for the TPB constructs of attitude, subjective norm, and PBC as well as the additional construct of perceived risk in predicting parents’ intentions to use online information to manage their child’s health care, with further support found for intentions, but not PBC, in predicting parents’ behaviour. The results of the TPB belief-based analyses also revealed important information about the critical beliefs that guide parents’ decisions to engage in this child health management behaviour.

Conclusions

This theory-based investigation to understand parents’ motivations and online information-seeking behaviour is key to developing recommendations and policies to guide more appropriate help-seeking actions among parents.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Use of online health information to manage children’s health care: a prospective study investigating parental decisions
Authors
Anne M Walsh
Kyra Hamilton
Katherine M White
Melissa K Hyde
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Health Services Research / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-015-0793-4

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