{
  "abstract": "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.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of General Surgery, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing Children’s Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, China"
      ],
      "name": "Nairong Guo"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Pediatric Research Institute, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Child Rare Diseases in Infection and Immunity, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University National Clinical Research Center for Child Health and Disorders, Chongqing, China"
      ],
      "name": "Heping Fang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Beijing Children’s Hospital Shunyi Women and Children’s Hospital, Beijing, China"
      ],
      "name": "Xueling Li"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Pediatrics, Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China"
      ],
      "name": "Ruolin Xian"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Pediatrics, Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China"
      ],
      "name": "Yan Zhao"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Children’s Health Care Center, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing Children’s Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, China"
      ],
      "name": "Yan Hu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of General Surgery, National Center for Children’s Health, Beijing Children’s Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, China"
      ],
      "name": "Ying-Cun Li"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Parental perspectives and willingness towards digital paediatric research: a cross-sectional survey in two Chinese cities",
  "uid": "fc17757f-d28f-50dc-afcc-f56245f31dd8"
}