{"title":"Using Publicly Available Reddit Data to Understand How Parents Choose Pediatricians","authors":"Chionye R. Ossai, S. Bedrick, B. Orwoll","doi":"10.1080/15398285.2022.2062659","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Parents are increasingly using online physician rating sites to select a pediatrician. However, no studies have examined the role of social media in influencing parents’ choice of a pediatrician. The objective of this study was to qualitatively analyze what factors influence the choice of a pediatrician in an online peer support community. We retrieved retrospective data of all threads made to 4 subreddits on the Reddit social media platform between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019. We performed qualitative analysis using an inductive approach on threads related to choosing a pediatrician. We identified several codes which were grouped into subcategories/categories and finally abstracted into themes. We retrieved a total of 179 threads and included 30 for qualitative analysis. Thematic analysis led to identification of four major themes that influence how parents choose pediatricians on a social media platform—pediatrician-specific factors, office-related factors, parent/patient factors, and social factors. An online peer support community can serve as an important source of information for parents when searching for a pediatrician. Pediatric practices should focus on providing unmet information needs to parents that will ease the burden of the search process.","PeriodicalId":44184,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet","volume":"26 1","pages":"186 - 198"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15398285.2022.2062659","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract Parents are increasingly using online physician rating sites to select a pediatrician. However, no studies have examined the role of social media in influencing parents’ choice of a pediatrician. The objective of this study was to qualitatively analyze what factors influence the choice of a pediatrician in an online peer support community. We retrieved retrospective data of all threads made to 4 subreddits on the Reddit social media platform between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019. We performed qualitative analysis using an inductive approach on threads related to choosing a pediatrician. We identified several codes which were grouped into subcategories/categories and finally abstracted into themes. We retrieved a total of 179 threads and included 30 for qualitative analysis. Thematic analysis led to identification of four major themes that influence how parents choose pediatricians on a social media platform—pediatrician-specific factors, office-related factors, parent/patient factors, and social factors. An online peer support community can serve as an important source of information for parents when searching for a pediatrician. Pediatric practices should focus on providing unmet information needs to parents that will ease the burden of the search process.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet is the only professional peer-reviewed journal devoted to locating consumer health information via the Internet. In this journal librarians and health information providers describe programs and services aimed at helping patients and the general public find the health information they need. From the Editor: "Studies have shown that health information is one of the major reasons that people worldwide access the Internet. As the amount of health information on the Web increases exponentially, it becomes critical that librarians-including public and medical librarians-be knowledgeable about what is available online and be able to direct users to reliable, accurate, quality information."