Accuracy of online discussion forums on common childhood ailments.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The research sought to determine if the health advice provided in online discussion forms aimed at parents of young children is accurate and in agreement with evidence found in evidence-based resources and to discover whether or not these forums are an avenue for misinformation.

Methods

To determine which online forums to use, Google was searched using five common childhood ailments. Forums that appeared five or more times in the first five pages of the Google search for each question were considered. Of these forums, those that met the inclusion criteria were used. Data from a six-month time period was collected and categorized from the discussion forums to analyze the advice being provided about common childhood ailments. Evidence-based resources were used to an

SUBMITTER: Farrell A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6148614 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature