Objective To assess the effectiveness of Internet-based health education in improving treatment compliance of children with hand-foot-mouth disease（HFMD）and their parents′knowledge level of the disease.Methods One hundred and sixty children with HFMD and their parents（only one parent of each child was included）who received traditional health education prior to the nursing reform（from March 2014 to March 2015）in a Henan hospital were included as the control group

while 160 children with HFMD and their parents who received Internet-based health education after the nursing reform（from April 2015 to April 2016）in the same hospital were included as the trial group.The treatment compliance was assessed during intervention

and time to symptom improvement and time to recovery were recorded.Moreover

the parents′knowledge level of HFMD before and after intervention as well as their satisfaction about health education after intervention were compared between the two groups.Results The overall treatment compliance score

as well as the diet

medication

exercise

and behavior sub-scores were significantly higher in the trial group than those in the control group（P<0.05）.The time to symptom improvement and time to recovery were significantly shorter in the trial group than those in the control group（P<0.05）.Before intervention

the parents′knowledge level of HFMD was similar between the two groups（P>0.05）;after intervention

the knowledge level was significantly improved in both groups

but with much greater increase in the trial group（P<0.05）.Besides

the parents′satisfaction level about health education was higher in the trial group than that in the control group（P<0.05）.Conclusion Internet-based health education seems to be effective in improving treatment compliance of children with HFMD

enhancing their parents′knowledge level of the disease

and accelerating symptom improvement and recovery

which deserves widespread clinical application.