Fever Phobia Revisited: Have Parental Misconceptions About Fever Changed in 20 Years?

Crocetti, Michael; Moghbeli, Nooshi; Serwint, Janet R.

doi:10.1542/peds.107.6.1241

Cited by 407 publications

(590 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…A recent study concluded that health care providers are in a unique position to educate parents with regard to fever, 17 and our data suggest that physicians, family members and nurses are the most common source of information about fever. Our data also suggest that books and magazines are increasingly important information sources.…”

Section: Information Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 50%

Parental and health care provider understanding of childhood fever: a Canadian perspective

Karwowska

Nijssen–Jordan

Johnson

et al. 2002

CJEM

118

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Objectives: Fever is common in children and causes misconceptions among parents. Many investigators have called for improved parental education to dispel "fever phobia." Our objectives were to assess parental and health care provider understanding of fever, its treatment, and beliefs about its consequences, as well as to identify parental sources of information about fever. Methods: Self-administered surveys were distributed to 3 parent groups and 4 health care provider groups. Parent groups included parents of children with fever presenting to the emergency department (ED) (fever group, n = 209), parents of children with an injury presenting to ED (injury group, n = 160), and parents of healthy school children (school group, n = 141). Provider groups included pediatric ED physicians (n = 16), pediatric ED nurses (n = 39), general pediatricians (n = 26) and family physicians (n = 79). Results: Parent groups considered a temperature of 37.9°C to be a fever, 39.1°C to be a high fever, and 39.9°C to be a dangerous fever. Parents were most concerned about discomfort, seizures and dehydration, and parents in the "fever group" worried more about dehydration (p = 0.01) and brain damage (p = 0.03) than other parents. Most physicians were concerned about dehydration and seizures, but family physicians were most likely to express concerns about brain damage (40.5%) and death (34.1%). Conclusions: Fever phobia exists among parents and health care providers and is most likely in parents of febrile children and family physicians. Health care providers varied in their knowledge of fever and its treatment. Greater education of health care workers is required in order to provide families with appropriate information. RÉSUMÉObjectifs : La fièvre, fréquemment rencontrée chez les enfants, est souvent source d'idées fausses chez les parents. De nombreux chercheurs recommandent que les parents soient mieux renseignés concernant la «phobie de la fièvre». Nos objectifs étaient d'évaluer la compréhension des parents et des dispensateurs de soins des symptômes de la fièvre, de son traitement et des croyances quant à ses conséquences, ainsi qu'identifier les sources d'information pour les parents au sujet de la fièvre.

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Section: Information Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 50%

Parental and health care provider understanding of childhood fever: a Canadian perspective

Karwowska

Nijssen–Jordan

Johnson

et al. 2002

CJEM

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These findings were similar to that of Crocetti M et al, as 85 per cent of parents (340) reported awakening their child from sleep to give antipyretics and forty-three per cent (264) of the mothers, indicated that they administer antipyretics without measuring their children's temperatures. 10 Parents should know that clinical research tested this observation. It was found that experienced mothers were wrong in 50 per cent of the time in diagnosing low-grade fevers (38.3-38.9°C) by touch.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10,17 It contained 25 items to evaluate the parent's knowledge about their children's fever, and their beliefs towards it. The Items also were chosen to explore their patterns of use of OTC antipyretics and temperature management practices.…”

Section: Questionnaire Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, they found little change in the knowledge of American mothers, beliefs and practices over a 20-year interval. 10 Three decades ago, Schmidt, described "fever phobia", and parents' concern toward the harmful effects of temperature. 11 Since then little has changed in parents' negative attitude towards that, 12 and other researchers have confirmed that parental perceptions are largely unjustified.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kuwaiti parent's knowledge of their childern's fever and their patterns of use of over the counter antipyretics

Badawy¹,

Alhajraf²,

Alsamdan³

2017

AMJ

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“…The fever accounts for about a third of the children's medical visits [1]. Fever also has positive effects; it both alarms for infections or inflammation in the body, and stimulates the immune system and prevents the growth of certain bacteria.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acetaminophen in Children: Which Dosage, Which Route?

Hashemian¹

2017

J Infect Dis Med

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Fever is one of the most common symptoms among children, which worries parents and makes them go to physicians or emergency centers. One way to control the fever is to administer acetaminophen. Limited studies have been done on the dosage and route of administration of acetaminophen in children. This paper is a review of the correct use of acetaminophen in children based on existing randomized clinical trial studies and with emphasis on dosage and route of administration.

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Fever Phobia Revisited: Have Parental Misconceptions About Fever Changed in 20 Years?

Cited by 407 publications

References 15 publications

Parental and health care provider understanding of childhood fever: a Canadian perspective

Parental and health care provider understanding of childhood fever: a Canadian perspective

Kuwaiti parent's knowledge of their childern's fever and their patterns of use of over the counter antipyretics

Acetaminophen in Children: Which Dosage, Which Route?

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