Educational interventions on fever management in children: A scoping review

Abstract

Background Numerous studies have been conducted specifically to target “fever phobia” and inappropriate fever management skills. However, despite educational intervention, caregivers continue to adopt inappropriate and non‐evidence‐based practices. Aims To collect and examine peer‐reviewed literature for active educational interventions aimed at improving fever management in children and profile them based on: who provided the training, training location, how the intervention was delivered, outcomes of training, and how it was measured. Design Scoping Review. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PubMED, PsycINFO, and IPA were searched from January 1980–December 2016. Study location, type of intervention, intervention target, study aim(s), sample size, instruments, outcome measures, and results were extracted. Results Thirty‐seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Most targeted parents with the remainder focused on healthcare professionals. The interventions and their outcome measures varied significantly from structured group training sessions to video interventions and many using a combination of methods. Most interventions reported a positive impact in outcomes such as knowledge, health service use, or fever management skills. Conclusion More standardized educational platforms targeted at both caregivers and healthcare professionals with appropriate evaluation methods should be developed and made widely available.

Australian care givers' knowledge of and attitudes towards paediatric fever management

“…This result confirms that fever phobic behaviours are significantly reduced when participant total knowledge is increased. This confirms previous reviews which hypothesize that attitudes and beliefs changes can be formed through the improvement of fever management knowledge 8,14,22 . Additionally, those that scored a higher score in Factor 2 – Patient Self Efficacy, predicated a higher knowledge score ( β = 0.277).…”

Sociodemographic Characteristics and Interests of FeverApp Users

“…Although the video can also be accessed later via the Info Library, it was not frequently used there. Considering earlier research proposing that although parents appear to prefer videos in comparison with other means of education [ 17 ], knowledge transfer remains a challenge even with informative videos. However, it could be that previous users already have, or believe they have, a basic knowledge that is sufficient for them, so that further immersion seems unnecessary.…”

“…Several studies have examined the influence of different manners of education regarding fever and found a positive outcome of attaining better knowledge and management of fevers [ 16 ]. However, in a scoping review, Arias et al [ 17 ] concluded that both parents and healthcare personnel should be addressed by a “more standardized educational platform”.…”

Educational Protocol for Improving Mothers Practices on the Types of Fever in Zagazig City

“…Similarly, Arias et al, [22], illustrated in their study about an educational interventions on fever management in children, in Australia, that most interventions reported a positive impact in fever management skills. Also, this finding was similar to Bertille et al, [23] in their results in France, they reported that their recommendations about managing fever in children to parents were effective in changing the parents' practices with their children.…”