Study on the Collection of Medical and Health Information by Parents of Pediatric Dental Patients

Abstract

We investigated how the parents of pediatric dental patients collect medical and health information. With regard to whether or not parents get information about their children's health by using the internet, more than 90% of the respondents answered, “I often use it”, or “I sometimes use it”. Regarding the questions “Was the problem was solved?” and “Was the information reliable?”, more than half of the respondents answered, “Not really”. Regarding the questions on whether they use the internet for researching the oral health of their children, about 60% of them answered “I have used it before”. The internet was often used in cases of sudden and urgent matters such as trauma. It was found that the respondents did not receive paper media such as leaflets related to health, and even if they did, only a few people read them, which showed that they did not actively get information from paper media. When collecting medical and health information, parents may be concerned about whether or not the information is applicable to their child's situation. Thus, it is clearly important for medical practitioners to provide sufficient explanations on the child's situation in daily clinical practice.