The impact of parental use of Social media for medical advice on health seeking behavior in children in Jeddah : A cross sectional Study

Objective The increasing use of social media and artificial intelligence (AI) for medical advice has changed how parents seek health information for their children. This study aimed to assess how parental use of online sources influences health-seeking behavior and trust in medical information. A cross-sectional study was conducted between 2025 and 2026 among parents in the Western Province of Saudi Arabia to evaluate online health information-seeking patterns, trust in physicians and digital sources, and reliance on online medical advice. Results A total of 531 parents participated. Most searched online when their child was unwell; 32.0% searched regularly and 28.4% occasionally. Search engines (35.6%) and AI tools (30.9%) were the most common sources, compared with social media (6.6%). Most parents (91.2%) trusted their child’s physician, although 34.0% reported discrepancies between online information and medical advice. When discrepancies occurred, 56.8% preferred medical advice and 3.7% relied on online information. Mean Doctor Trust and Online Trust Scores were 4.40 ± 0.68 and 3.52 ± 0.48, respectively, and were positively correlated (ρ = 0.230, p < 0.001). Overall, digital sources complemented rather than replaced professional medical advice.