Perception of fever and management practices by parents of pediatric patients

Abstract

Background: The febrile child is a common pediatric presentation in both primary care and the emergency department. An assessment of parents’ perception to recognize fever in their child, as well as management practices was the focus of this study. Methods: The study was done prospectively in which interviews were taken by researchers. One hundred and sixty four parents, whose children were less than 14 years old, had fever as one of the presenting complaints and admitted in pediatric department of Rama medical college & research center, Kanpur, were included in this study. Results: Majority of the parents 114 (69.51%) managed the fever initially at home. Only a few parents (17.07%) correctly managed the fever by taking their children to hospital or to a qualified practitioner, rest of the parents primarily rely on local medical store or unqualified practitioner. Conclusion: Parents need to be educated, when they consult health facilities especially during vaccination visits. Decreased appetite was the most common presenting complaint along with fever in children and it should be taken as a significant factor during health education of fever for early and appropriate consultation. [Int J Res Med Sci 2013; 1(4.000): 397-400

Parent's Attitude, Knowledge and Belief of Child's Fever Managements in Al-Qassim - Saudi Arabia

“…Phobia of fever has been shown to affect the parents' decisions regarding seeking medical care [5]. Although parents perceive fear from fever, they have poor knowledge of fever and its consequences [6]. In 2000, a study was performed in Saudi Arabia reported that, more than two third of parents have a poor understanding of fever, high fever, untreated fever with maximum temperature, and threshold temperature which justifies the use of antipyretic medications [7].…”

Knowledge and Practices on Fever and Home Management of a Febrile Child and Antipyretic Use: A Sri Lankan Experience

“…In contrast a study in Iran showed that the most common method of temperature measurement was the forehead fever strip, the reason being that many mothers being unable to read a mercury thermometer (16). However, in India (Agrawal ) 75% of the parents used the digital thermometer and the rest used the mercury thermometer (10).…”

“…In this study 58.7% used the axillary method which is lower than the rate reported in India which was 80%. (10). Similarly, Polat et al in 2012 (17) revealed that the technique of measuring the body temperature by the caregivers in Turkey was not satisfactory as caregivers stated that they were not certain about the correct site (90%) and the best type of thermometer (95%) for body temperature measurement.…”

“…In the present study 99% of the study sample had given paracetamol to their children at home before visiting the medical practitioner. The use of antipyretics among children before accessing medical care with fever ranged (32.3%-90.3%) across the globe (10,20,21,22,23). Antipyretics are available over the counter in Sri Lanka.…”

“…Anecdotal evidence clearly shows that PCGs of children, do not have adequate and correct knowledge regarding childhood fever and therefore, do not practice correct procedures in the management of a febrile illness of their child at home (8). Correct knowledge and practices of PCGs can empower caregivers, increasing their con dence to provide optimum care to a febrile child and enable them to give optimal home-based practices and to seek proper and timely medical assistance (9,10). Within this context we conducted this research to assess the knowledge on childhood fever and the knowledge and practices on home management of a febrile child among the primary caregivers of children less than 12 years of age.…”