Parental perspectives and willingness towards digital paediatric research: a cross-sectional survey in two Chinese cities

Objective This study aims to explore disparities in eHealth literacy and perspectives on digital health among parents of preschool children from different cities and examine how these characteristics influence their willingness to participate in digital paediatric clinical research. Design Cross-sectional online survey. Setting Conducted between November and December 2023 among parents of preschool children in Yongchuan District (Chongqing) and Shunyi District (Beijing), China. Participants Parents of preschool children (aged 3–6 years). Among 1340 unique survey visits, 1274 started the questionnaire (response rate: 95.1%). Ultimately, 621 (321 from Yongchuan and 300 from Shunyi) were included in the final analysis. Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome was parents’ willingness to participate in paediatric clinical research. Secondary measures included eHealth literacy (assessed by the Chinese version of the eHealth Literacy Scale), conceptual understanding of digital health, behavioural inclinations toward digital tool use and concerns regarding digital research. Results Of the respondents, 36.9% expressed willingness to participate in paediatric clinical research, with a significantly higher proportion in Yongchuan compared with Shunyi (45.5% vs 27.7%, p<0.001). Yongchuan parents reported higher adequate eHealth literacy (59.8% vs 44.7%, p<0.001), better digital health understanding (25.9% vs 18.7%) and higher willingness to use digital tools for daily data collection (65.1% vs 54.3%) (both p=0.02). Regarding smartphone-related concerns, parents in Yongchuan were more likely to express concerns about ‘Health impacts of the tools (such as radiation)’ (45.8% vs 38.0%, p=0.049) and ‘Possible expenses’ (38.0% vs 29.7%, p=0.03). Logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for confounding factors, identified ‘Support digital tools in paediatric research’ as a significant predictor of higher parental willingness (OR=2.21, 95% CI 1.48 to 3.26, p<0.001). Additionally, the willingness of parents from Yongchuan was more influenced by their digital device usage behaviours compared with those in Shunyi. Conclusion Parental eHealth literacy and digital health perspectives significantly influence willingness to participate in paediatric research.