Clubfoot-Related Online Information in Hungarian: Parental Use, Content Quality, and Implications for Healthcare Professionals

Background Clubfoot is one of the most common congenital foot deformities. With appropriate treatment, outcomes are generally excellent. Parents who learn about their child’s diagnosis often seek information online before consulting a specialist. As online information may shape parental knowledge, expectations, and concerns, healthcare professionals should be aware of the information available to families and its quality and reliability. This multicenter study examined online information-seeking among Hungarian parents of children with clubfoot and evaluated the quality and reliability of Hungarian-language clubfoot websites.Methods Parents of children with clubfoot completed a questionnaire regarding their internet use and experiences with online clubfoot-related content. A search using the Hungarian term for “clubfoot” was conducted on Google to identify relevant websites. These sites were evaluated for reliability and content quality.Results Of the 114 respondents, 105 (93.8%) had searched the internet for information prior to orthopedic consultation. Among them, 30 (28.6%) found the information difficult to understand, and 59 (56.2%) considered it insufficient. Overall, 62 (68.9%) respondents identified an online parental support group as their primary source of information. Website quality was limited: 21/35 (60.0%) had poor content quality and 19/35 (54.3%) had poor DISCERN reliability. Treatment information was among the least comprehensively covered domains.Conclusions Healthcare professionals and institutions should regularly review online patient information, direct families to reliable resources, and support parents in critically evaluating online health information.