To determine how patients use the internet to get health information and to identify their needs and preferences for a journal transparency tool which would highlight journal transparency practices.

A mixed-methods study comprising a cross-sectional online survey followed by virtual focus groups to further explore the survey responses.

Canada.

A total of 183 adult patients and caregivers completed our online survey. 29 survey respondents participated in the subsequent focus groups.

We report descriptive statistics (counts and percentages) for all quantitative survey items. We used thematic content analysis for text-based survey responses. The focus groups asked patients about four key topics: (1) the content they would like to see in a journal transparency tool, (2) how they would like the content visually displayed, (3) how to best share the tool with patients and (4) how to determine whether the tool was successful over time. We conducted a thematic content analysis to identify core themes discussed. Focus group participants then rank-ordered the themes identified by their perceived importance.

Of the 183 survey respondents, 146 (82%) indicated they use the internet most often when looking for health information, 66 (37%) indicated they sometimes read original research articles when searching for health information and 92 (52%) indicated they sometimes have difficulty knowing if the information they read online is reliable. Approximately half (86; 49%) of the survey respondents had never heard of predatory journals. We identified 32 themes across the four key topic areas that were discussed in the focus groups.

Patients have expressed a need for a journal transparency tool. This study will inform the tool’s development to ensure that it meets the needs and preferences of patients.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common motor disability in children, with higher prevalence in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with high-income countries (HICs). Children with CP (CwCP) often face significant challenges in achieving toileting independence due to motor, sensory and cognitive impairments. Parents play a pivotal role in managing these challenges, often encountering significant emotional, physical and social burdens. Despite the importance of toileting for autonomy and dignity, limited evidence exists on tailored toilet training programmes for CwCP, especially in LMICs. Understanding parental perspectives is essential to addressing these gaps and informing family-centred interventions.

This scoping review aims to explore parents’ perspectives on toileting management for CwCP, focusing on strategies, challenges and unmet needs, to inform future research and the development of supportive interventions. This scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Joanna Briggs Institute and summarised using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews framework. The English language full-text articles, published between January 2014 and December 2024, addressing the parental perspectives, challenges and strategies related to the task of toileting in CwCP below 18 years of age will be included. Systematic searches will be conducted through PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and grey literature. The data will be extracted and analysed thematically using Microsoft Excel.

The present protocol has been registered in the Open Science Framework (DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/73YQZ). Ethical approval is not required, as this review uses secondary data from published studies and does not involve direct participant recruitment. The findings will synthesise themes related to parents’ strategies, challenges and expectations in toileting management for CwCP. They will help address existing literature gaps and inform the development of practical, evidence-informed toileting education programmes for parents.