The knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of carers (parents, guardians, healthcare practitioners, crèche workers) around fever and febrile illness in children aged 5 years and under: protocol for a qualitative systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundMany parents consider fever a disease in itself and feel disempowered when their child is ill. Numerous guidelines have been produced; however, their target audience remains healthcare professionals and not carers of children in general. A reliable source of information will decrease worry in parents and carers when managing a febrile child.Methods/DesignA systematic search will be conducted in nine electronic databases. Articles published in English, or with an abstract published in English, will be eligible for inclusion in the review. Unpublished literature, grey literature and consultation with experts in the area will be used to supplement database searching. Titles and abstracts of studies will be screened for inclusion in the study by two independent reviewers against pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A data extraction form will be designed and data will be extracted to provide detail of the included studies by a further two reviewers. Quality assessment of studies will be conducted by two additional independent reviewers and results will be used to moderate included studies. All disagreements will be resolved through discussion until consensus is reached. Thematic synthesis will be used to analyse results.DiscussionCorrect management of fever in children is not well understood in the general population. Although carers can identify fever and febrile illness in children, determination of the severity of fever proves challenging. Research is needed to cohere existing evidence and identify knowledge gaps. It is envisaged that results of this review will contribute to the development of trustworthy, accessible guidelines for parents and carers of children with fever or febrile illness.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42014009812

Effectiveness of Health Education on Knowledge of Mothers of Under Five Children Regarding Management of Children Suffering from Pyrexia

“…Families are more worried and anxious about the fever and it is one of the most common symptoms of childhood illness and wants to know its reason and have difficulty in assessing the severity of the illness 3,10 . By providing information to parents and caregivers, especially to mothers of children regarding fever would prevent the unnecessary treatment of children, as well as minimizing delays and insufficient responses to fever 11 . Most fevers are not dangerous; Parents, especially mothers, nevertheless experience severe anxiety confronting children's fevers awareness and knowledge about fever in mothers helps to promote home measures, to correct false beliefs and to reduce mothers' anxiety 12 .…”

Slaugytojų Veikla, Teikiant Pagalbą Karščiuojančiam Vaikui

“…respondentų, dirbančių vaikų ITS, manė, kad tikėtina, arba labai tikėtina, kad jų skyriuje bus orientuojamasi į NICE gaires [18]. Yra atliktų tyrimų apie slaugytojų žinias ir įsitikinimus, teikiant pagalbą karščiuojančiam vaikui [13][14][16][17][18], tačiau vis dar nėra bendrųjų patvirtintų gairių, rekomendacijų, apibrėžiančių vienodą požiūrį į karščiuojantį vaiką, kuriomis galėtų remtis visi pasaulio slaugytojai [19]. Šio tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad tik dalis slaugytojų, dirbančių bendrojo profilio PSPS ir ITS, vertindami karščiuojančio vaiko būklę, vertina oro patekimą į plaučius, kraujotakos sutrikimus, odos ar liežuvio spalvą.…”

Effectiveness of Health Education on Knowledge of Mothers of Under Five Children Regarding Management of Children Suffering from Pyrexia

“…Families are more worried and anxious about the fever and it is one of the most common symptoms of childhood illness and wants to know its reason and have difficulty in assessing the severity of the illness 3,10 . By providing information to parents and caregivers, especially to mothers of children regarding fever would prevent the unnecessary treatment of children, as well as minimizing delays and insufficient responses to fever 11 .…”