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Parents don't abuse pediatrician e-mails

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill., June 7 (UPI) -- Parents who communicate with their child's pediatrician by e-mail rarely abuse the system, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.

The Elk Grove Village, Ill., organization analyzed the content of e-mails between 54 parents, who were permitted to exchange e-mail with their children's pediatricians over a six-week period.

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Boston Medical Center researcher Shikha Anand said the concern was that parents would e-mail doctors about matters better handled by other office staff.

However, "the vast majority of e-mails were simply to ask a medical question," Anand told the Washington Post. "Parents were very aware of the privilege of direct contact with their physicians ... and therefore limited their questions."

The association reported the study in Pediatrics, but said results could not be generalized beyond the mainly white, upper middle class participants.

Some 31 percent of U.S. pediatricians communicate via e-mail, a higher percentage than doctors in general, according an April survey of 1,200 doctors by Manhattan Research.

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