Parents turn to Dr Google as they delay medical appointments for children

There’s one thing nearly 90 per cent of Australian parents say they would do which puts their child’s health in jeopardy.

Exclusive: Parents are putting their children’s health at risk by using the internet to self-diagnose conditions instead of seeing a medical professional, doctors warn.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way families are seeking medical attention for their children with GPs reporting a rise in cancelled appointments.

Nearly one in five (16.89 per cent) Australian parents say they have put off taking their children to a doctor, a survey of more than 1800 WaterWipes users conducted in July found.

About three in 10 (28.89 per cent) Australian parents said they were not connecting with other parents.

Significantly, close to 90 per cent of parents said they were likely to use the internet to diagnose or treat their baby’s medical conditions.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) vice president and practising GP Bruce Willett warned the greatest danger with Dr Google is how the results are interpreted.

“It’s really important to remember that Google will return the most popular response but not the most likely,” Dr Willett said.

RACGP vice president Dr Bruce Willett. Picture: Tara Croser

“Lots of people get diagnosed with MS on Google but really they’ve just fallen asleep on their arm or something.”

While telehealth services have a role to play during the pandemic they are not the most reliable, especially when it comes to children.

“For adults if someone has a cold that can be sorted over the phone, but the reality is that is much more difficult for children, you always nearly need to see them as they often present with infectious symptoms,” Dr Willett said.

He said doctors were seeing more patients that had let conditions go unchecked for too long making their road to recovery longer.

“The problem is because of these delays we are seeing people present with conditions later that are more difficult to treat, they are more severe,” he said.

Dr Deb Levy, a Sydney-based paediatrician. Picture: Supplied

Specialist paediatrician Dr Deb Levy said parents are often searching the internet for answers to common problems.

“Parents are looking for answers to things like why is my child not sleeping? Are they eating properly? What’s that rash? Is that poop normal? Why did they have a fever and what do I do?,” she said.

The problem is the internet either gives a false sense of reassurance or heightens anxieties.

“On the one hand it can mean patients will then delay review of their child incorrectly because they are falsely reassured. They will look at photos of a rash and say, ‘OK, that’s nothing to worry about’, but it could be something more serious, something bacterial or fungal that needs specific creams,” Dr Levy said.

“On the other end of the extreme it also unnecessarily heightens anxiety in parents. They rush to emergency when it may not be necessary and today we don’t want to overload emergency. I just wish parents wouldn’t do it.”

Dr Levy said she has seen children with a delayed diagnosis because of Dr Google.

“One case was a toddler who initially had constipation, diarrhoea and nappy rash. Mum was exploring food tolerances, she was changing the child’s diet herself and trying a lot of remedies herself on the nappy rash but by the time she came to me 9 to 12 months later the baby wasn’t growing properly, they were underweight and had a really painful nappy rash. I ended up diagnosing that child with iron deficiency, zinc deficiency as well coeliac disease,” she said.

“I don’t want to be an alarmist but the point is we shouldn’t always presume that the internet is right.”

Originally published as Parents turn to Dr Google as they delay medical appointments for children