Monitoring online health misinformation can help create useful patient education content
Getting ahead of health misinformation trends can minimize their negative impacts
SAN DIEGO — Pediatric clinicians can learn useful information by tracking the health misinformation that their patients encounter, according to research presented during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2026 National Conference & Exhibition Oct. 2-6, 2026, at the San Diego Convention Center.
Researchers created a survey to collect data from medical professionals on what misinformation they heard from patients, the category it fit into, if the survey respondent felt prepared to address it, strategies used, and whether or not their approach worked, along with other demographic questions.
The authors of the abstract, “Tracking Pediatric Health Misinformation Clinicians Hear to Build an Institutional Response," found that more than 50% of the misinformation recorded at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) involved vaccines, as well as topics including aluminum, acetaminophen, ADHD, and supplements. The survey results provided a snapshot of what patients and families were most concerned about when it comes to their children’s health.
CHOP researchers used the data to create Pediatric Health Chat, an externally facing website that contained educational information that debunked the misinformation families reported from their everyday lives. They also used the results to develop internal educational trainings for hospital practitioners.
“Looking at these trends allowed us to see in real-time what was worrying the families we care for and allowed us to give them the most up to date science on topics of interest,” said Katie Lockwood, MD, MEd, FAAP, study author and pediatrician at CHOP. "Addressing pediatric health misinformation is vital to protecting the health of children, and as trusted messengers, children's hospitals have an obligation to respond."
The research showed that systematically tracking the misinformation families encounter can turn clinicians’ real-world questions into effective, targeted education. Although fewer than one-third of survey respondents said their own responses worked, the findings gave providers a clearer understanding of families’ concerns and helped guide materials for patients, families and other clinicians.
Researchers state this approach could be replicated in other hospitals and care settings to help build trust with patients and caregivers and provide them the information they need most to keep children healthy.
Media Relations Contact:
Natalie Solimeo at solimeon@chop.edu.
Study author Dr. Katie Lockwood, is scheduled to present her research, which is below, from 5 to 6 PM on Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Marriott.
In addition, Dr. Lockwood will be among highlighted abstract authors who will give brief presentations and be available for interviews during a “Soundbite Session” from noon- 1 pm PDT Sunday, Oct. 4, in the conference center Press Office, 14A.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org. Reporters can access the meeting program and other relevant meeting information through the AAP meeting website at http://www.aapexperience.org/
ABSTRACT
Program Name: Call for Abstracts
Submission Type: Council on Clinical Information Technology
Abstract Title: Tracking Pediatric Health Misinformation Clinicians Hear to Build an Institutional Response
Katie Lockwood
Ambler, PA, United States
Health misinformation is a threat to public health and increasingly is impacting pediatric clinical care. In order to better understand how misinformation impacts patients at our hospital, we developed a REDCap tracking tool for clinicians to report misinformation heard during clinical encounters. We use the trending topics in that tracker to develop new educational content for an external website called Pediatric Health Chat and for internal educational trainings at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
A REDCap survey tracking tool for misinformation was created and distributed across Children's Hospital of Philadelphia clinical environments, on fliers, emails, and linked in our EHR, EPIC. This survey ask what misinformation was heard, the category it fits it, if the respondent felt prepared to address it, strategies used, and whether or not their approach worked, along with other respondent demographic questions. A Qliksense dashboard was created for real time insights on survey entries. A multidisciplinary team (including a pediatrician, neonatologist, public relations and marketing specialists, data analyst, and journalist) meets monthly to review trends and determine which topics necessitate novel patient education content creation and internal clinician education.
From May 2025 to March 2026, there have been 234 entries. Vaccine misinformation accounts for 53.8% of entries. Trending keywords include aluminum, acetaminophen, ADHD, and antibiotics. On a scale of 1 to 100, respondents reported a median preparedness score of 77 in responding to misinformation from patients and yet only 28% reported that their approach worked. Median preparedness scores increased with years of practice (Figure 1), yet more years in practice was associated with lower chances of their approach working (Figure 2). These entries have resulted in the creation of new patient education and public health social media content on 28 topics, including videos and blog posts, and 7 corresponding Opinion Editorials in the Philadelphia Inquirer. In addition, a weekly educational email on vaccine communication skills was started with 10 weeks and counting of clinician education content informed by the REDCap entries.
Using a survey tool to collect local trends in misinformation in clinical encounters can drive patient-facing education, institutional public health messaging, and clinician education initiatives. While vaccine misinformation remains a majority of medical myths heard by clinicians, the topics range across categories such as distrust in healthcare, supplements, miracle cures, and unnecessary interventions. A systematic approach to monitoring local misinformation trends can provide a targeted response to the misinformation topics that are most likely to impact clinical care in a particular patient community. The system in place at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia could be a model for other institutions to respond similarly.
Figure 1. Median Preparedness Score by Years of Experience
Figure 2. Percent of Approach Working to Change Patient/Family Perspectives
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Tracking Pediatric Health Misinformation Clinicians Hear to Build an Institutional Response
Article Publication Date
2-Oct-2026
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