Publication:

Awareness of parents of children with fever

Background This study was conducted to assess the awareness of parents of children with fever <5 days attending the outpatient services of Peoples College of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bhopal, MP, India.

Methods This was a hospital based, cross sectional study with total of 400 parents with febrile child having fever <5 days were included in the study after obtaining a written consent. Data was collected by one to one interview with the help of pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire.

Results It was found that 49.8%of parents did not know that fever is a symptom and not a disease. Nearly one third (37.5%) of parents were unaware of fact that fever can be measured with the help of thermometer. Only 37% of parents knew that threshold for fever is 1000f. Majority of the parents (69.2%) knew cold sponging can reduce fever. Danger signs of fever that prompt immediate medical consultation were known to 54.2%of the parents. More than fifty percent 54.2% of the parents were aware of complications of high grade fever (can lead to convulsion or brain injury).

Conclusions It is evident from the present study that there is considerable lack of awareness and fear among the parents of children regarding fever, which leads to inappropriate practices for management and unrealistic expectations from the care givers. It is also observed that parental education has a direct positive correlation with awareness and practices.